Harry and Alice Potter: Year Three
by TheOriginalSnapespeare
Summary: Harry and his twin Sister Alice are back for their third year at Hogwarts. When Remus sees a family photo of the Weasleys an interesting tale of secrects and deception unfolds. Parallel to Prisoner of Azkaban.
1. Chapter 1

The entire Weasley family was smiling back at me from the newspaper clipping I held in my hand. "Remus look! Ron's dad won some kind of contest at the Ministry and they used the money to go to Egypt!" I said after I finished scanning the article. I handed him the photograph and watched his smile fade.

"Allison how long has Ron had his rat?" I peeked over his shoulder noticing Scabbers in the photo.

"Well I think Ron told us that his rat's been in his family for almost twelve years. He got it his first year at Hogwarts, from his brother Percy." I explained confused.

"I need to owl Sirius. May I borrow Apollo?" He asked speaking about my friendly barn owl.

"Sure." I answered as he turned away. "Remus! I'm going home it's almost dinner, Sev will be expecting me."

"See you tomorrow." He called absentmindedly over his shoulder. That was not Remus' usual demeanor. Whatever it was about Ron's rat that was troubling him must be a big deal. Remus and Sirius were my dad's best friends. My mother's best friend was a man by the name of Severus Snape. Together Severus and Remus raised me. Sirius raised my twin brother Harry. Our parents died when we were just babies, the night they died Harry and I somehow defeated one of the darkest wizards of all time. We were then separated for our own safety, and met again on our eleventh birthday. Since then we have taken on the form of Voldemort twice more. It was bordering on traditional. After leaving Remus' house I headed home. Not before talking out my enchanted parchment, magically communicating with Severus.

**Sev, Do you know why Remus would be interested in Ron's Rat?**

_Is his rat by any chance missing a toe?_ I thought back to the last time I had seen Scabbers.

**Yeah, I think so.**

_Could you do me a favor and invite your Uncle over for dinner? It seems I have made too much food for just the two of us, and I'd hate to waste it._ Something was definitely going on with this rat.

**Sure no problem**. I turned around practically running back, my inner gossip getting the better of me. I bounded up Remus' front steps, knocked gently on the door, and swung it open before he could answer.

"Reemus!" I called through the house, "Sev wants me to invite you over for dinner. Said he made too much food." At first Remus looked at me confused. I waved the enchanted parchment in my hand to answer his unspoken question. He shut the door behind him and we headed back to my house. Growing up Remus would always visit our house, but the deeper Severus got into the Death eaters, the less practical his visits became. I started spending more and more time at Remus' house and I lived there during the school years before I was accepted to Hogwarts. Remus nor Severus ever locked their door the reason seemed obvious to me. The kind of people they feared would break into their houses would not be stopped by a simple lock. I pushed open the door to the house and the warm smell of beef and potatoes wafted towards my nose.

"We're home!" I smiled as we stepped into the kitchen.

The Plates were all cleared away and I was about to wash them when Severus took the stack of plates out of my hands.

"Leave those for now Alice." He smiled uneasily. "Why don't you go downstairs and work on some homework?" I knew what that meant, _Alice the adults need to talk go downstairs so you can't hear us. _I rolled my eyes.

"I'm almost thirteen years old! That makes me practically an adult!"

"Hardly. Alice please go down stairs. I don't have time for this. I have a meeting I have to go to early in the morning and I need to talk to your uncle. So pleased for the love of Merlin go." He answered as he pointed to the basement. I gauged the subtle tone of his voice with the weariness in his eye and decided it was best to comply to his demands.

"Fine." I stomped off grabbing a random book from the bookshelf in the sitting room, and trudged downstairs. There was no way I was going to do homework. I still had a month to complete it. I looked around Severus' lab. I technically was allowed to be in there but what's the harm? It's not like he would know. My hand hovered above the doorknob, and I practically jumped out of my skin when Severus called down the stairs.

"Allison stay out of my lab." _Of course._ I should have known he'd charm the door for intrusions. I signed and resolved to reading the book in my hand. I scoffed at the title, _"Death Eaters, Are They Among Us?" _By Rita Skeeter. The back cover told me it was a book designed to teach the average wizard how to identify a death eater. I sat on the floor and opened the book to Chapter One "The Dark Mark." Before I knew it, I was completely absorbed in the book. It could have been hours, or only minutes before Severus came downstairs. He stood at the top of the stairs, a low growl came from deep in his throat, I think he was trying to chuckle.

"Must you sit on the floor?" He asked. I lifted myself up from the floor, brushing off as a stood.

"Well I prefer to read on my bed, but I wasn't allowed upstairs." I pointed out.

"What were you reading?" He asked trying to read the title through my hands. It hadn't occurred to me that he might not want me be reading this book. I was supposed to be doing homework after all.

"Oh nothing really interesting." I said offhandedly trying to climb the stairs past him, but with a flick of his want the book was out of my hand and into his own. Another chuckle escaped his mouth.

"Surly you know there isn't much fact in this book!"

"I, I know. I'm just curious what other people think about death eaters. This Skeeter lady thinks she has it all figured out. You don't fit her profile at all."

"And how exactly does Reeta Skeeter classify death eaters?"

"Well you know, lonely, heartless…much more like Mr. Malfoy."

"I see. Would you like to come upstairs?"

"Yes sir!" I said with a huge smile on my face. I raced up the stairs and practically tripped on my Hogwarts trunk. "What is this?" I asked over my shoulder, stopping short.

"we're going to take that trip to Irland that you missed out on last summer." _Clever Plan Severus, taking me to Irland is exactly the kind of thing that would distract me. _I considered my options for a moment. I could insist he tell me everything he and Remus had just discussed, or I could just play along and ignore the whole thing. I decided on a plan somewhere in between.

"Sev, I'll go with you on one condition."

"Allison, I don't have time to play these games. What do you want."

"I'll go on the trip and I won't cause any problems, I won't give you a hard time at all, if you promise that when we get there you will fill me in on everything you know about Ron's rat."

"Alice…" He began.

"If you don't I'll just have to stay here." I assured.

"No absolutely not. I'll tell you everything, but if you set a toe out of line at any time during this school year, you'll be spending your next summer brewing potions. Is that clear young lady?"

"Yes sir!" I said cheerily picking up my trunk.


	2. Chapter 2

I wrapped my fingers around the handle of my trunk, and placed my hand in Severus' outstretched one. I closed my eyes and we disaperated.

"Alright spill it." I said turning to him.

"Honestly it was nothing. That rat could just possibly be an old acquaintance from our Hogwarts days. Really nothing. Now let's enjoy the rest of our vacation it will be time for Hogwarts before you know it."

He was right about that much. Before I knew it I was standing on Platform 9 ¾ with my trunk in hand waving good-bye to Remus. I pulled my trunk on board and tried to locate my brother. I found him about three compartments down sitting with his Ron and Hermione. Ron helped me put my trunk in the overhead compartment and I took a seat next to Hermione.

"MERRR-OW!"

"What the bloody hell was that?" I asked jumping up from my seat.

"That's Hermonie's cat, Crookshanks." Harry explained agitated. I sat across from the animal, staring at its flat face.

"Are you sure it's a cat? What's wrong with his face?"

"That's what I asked!" Ron exclaimed.

"Nothing is wrong with his face. It's just flatter than most cats. That's all."

"Well I'm glad I'm not going to be sharing a room with it. That thing looks like it's ready for its next meal!" I exclaimed. Ron chuckled across from me.

"Oh stop it you two! He just doesn't like Ron's rat. They're cat's natural enemy you know…" Hermione launched into a long drown out tale about the history of the animosity between rats and cats. But I wasn't listening to a word she said. I was occupied staring at a pocket in Ron's shirt that I knew contained his pet rat Scabbers. What was it Severus had said? _An old acquaintance? _I was pulled out of my wondering when I noticed Ron and Hermione in a near duel, wands drawn and Harry shouting at them.  
>"That's it, I've had enough of you two!" Harry shouted. Harry hardly ever raised his voice, I assumed it was because he was just tired of listening to Ron and Hermione's bickering. "Alice can't you be of any help?!"<p>

"Yeah, Sorry." I forced Hermione back into her seat. "Alright you two that's enough. How was everyone's summer holiday?"

"Mine was great, thanks for asking." A bouncing bunch of blond curls answered as they sprung down next to me.

"Em! I've missed you so much!" I said wrapping my arms around her neck. Emily Smith had been my best friend since we were both sorted into Slytherin first year.

"I wouldn't know. _Someone_ barley sent me any owls this summer."

"I'm sorry, Remus and I were traveling so much, I barely had time to unpack before we were moving on to the next place!" Most of that was the truth. In an attempt to keep my mind occupied, Severus had us moving house throughout his several estates. We never stayed any one place longer than a week, and he always had tons of activities planned to keep my mind occupied.

"Forgiven." She said smiling. Emily was never one to hold a grudge. She also never looked at anything in a negative light. I smiled back, I had really missed all of my friends, but I had missed Emily the most. "Um, Harry, how have you been holding up?" I looked at Harry confused.

"Fine. um thanks for asking Emily."

"What's going on? Harry what happened?" Everyone looked down at their shoes, and Crookshanks hiss at me with his ugly squished up face. Emily looked simply horrified.

"You mean you don't know?" Emily asked guiltily. "I'm sorry, I wouldn't have said anything, if I would have known you didn't know. It should have been Harry who told you. I'm sorry forget I said anything. Really it wasn't my place too…"

"No, Em, what's going on?" But Emily had already turned away from me towards Harry begging for forgiveness with her eyes. No one said anything for a long moment. The silence was closing in on us when finally Ron spoke up.

"Well somebody's got to tell her! If you don't I will." He let about thirty second pass before starting again. "Well, I guess you didn't read _The Daily Profit _this summer or else you'd know."

"Yeah the only _Profit _article I read this summer was the clipping you sent me about your family's trip to Egypt. But what's the _Profit_ got to do with Harry?"

"Well if you'd read the _Profit_ you'd know that Sirius was arrested this summer." Everyone in the compartment made a deliberate attempt not to look at Harry. Everyone except me. I stared horror struck at my brother. I felt like the worst sister in the world. How could I not know that my brothers guardian and only person who cared about him in the world as much as I did, was arrested? How could Severus and Remus not tell me? They read the _Profit_ practically every day, and they never thought to mention it?

"But I just don't understand, why would they arrest Sirius?" And for the first time Harry looked up from the compartment floor, his green eyes starred right into my brown ones.

"They think Sirius fed information to Voldemort. They think he help Voldemort kill Mom and Dad."


	3. Chapter 3

"But that's crazy! He wouldn't have! Couldn't have, could he? He's been with you all of this time, if he…when did all of this happen?"

"A few weeks ago. He seemed upset about something, and then he was sleeping less and less, and then there were auror's at the house to take him away."

"Where have you been staying?"

"With us, mum said there's already so many Weasley's one more wouldn't hurt." Ron added sympathetically.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure they'll have to have a trial for him and they'll find him innocent. Of course they will." I said. Though I think I was trying to convince myself more than him.

"But there's more…" Emily added with a pitied expression.

"What else could there be?"

"He escaped Azkaban." Harry mumbled.

"That's impossible! No one's ever been able to!"

"Well he did."

"But why would he…Harry there's no way he did what they're accusing him of! It's just…no way! If he did, Dumbledore wouldn't have trusted him with your life…"

"Right because Dumbledore always shows great judgment."

"What's that supposed to mean Ron?"

"Just that Dumbledore doesn't always shoe great judgment. A three-headed dog in a school? A basikisk? Snape?"

"What does _Professor_ Snape have to do with any of this Ron? Look what's good for Dumbledore is what's good for me. He knows what he's doing, someday everyone else will come to realize this. Harry you can't honestly think Professor Dumbledore would put you in danger like that?"

"I don't know what I think anymore." I looked to Hermione and Emily for help.

"Harry honesty if Sirius had alternate intentions, they would have shown. He raised you Harry, you can't forget that. There must be some element of light in him. There must be something Dumbledore sees that we don't." Hermione tried.

"Not Likely." Harry and Ron said in unison.

"Honestly when will the pair of you grow up?" I stood up and stormed out, not bothering to close the compartment as I did. Within seconds I heard the soft footprints of someone behind me. I turned to Emily's troubled face inches from my own.

"Alice I…"

"It's alright Emily. You didn't mean anything by it, and I would have had to find out eventually."

"Let's go back. You don't have to talk to them, but there is something else I'd like to talk to you about."

"Alright." I said following her reluctantly.

"Have you spoken to Mary at all?" She asked as we re-entered the compartment.

"I sent her a few letters at the beginning of the summer holiday, but once we started to travel communication was tough. I didn't was to send Apollo out too far, for fear of him getting lost. Where is she anyways?" Mary had also been sorted into Slytherin with Emily and I. We had been good friend with her until during our last year at Hogwarts. Last year there was a basilisk loose in the school trying to kill of muggle born students. Even though Mary is a pureblood witch, her parents were still concerned with her safety.

"She's not coming back to Hogwarts this year."

"Oh."

"She tried to come back, but her parents think she is getting a much better education at Beauxbatons. She wanted to tell you herself, but when you didn't respond to her owls…"

"Yeah, of course. It's strange isn't it, but she was really only at Hogwarts for a year, but it feels like much longer."

"I know what you mean." She said smiling. We sat in a silent and awkward state, until the train gave a sudden lurch and then came to a halt. The lights simultaneously flickered out, the five of us sat in total darkness.

"What's going on?" Emily asked in a panicked voice.

"Do you think we've broken down?" Ron asked. I turned to look out the window.

"There's something moving out there." I said. "I think people are coming aboard…" The compartment door suddenly opened and someone toppled to the ground.

"Do any of you know what's going on?" It was my best friend Draco Malfoy. Harry and Ron helped Draco to his feet. "Honestly, Dumbledore can't even keep a train running properly." He complained taking a seat next to Harry. We were just about to relay what we knew to Draco, when another figure entered the compartment.

"Who's there?" Hermione asked.

"Ginny, Luna's here to." She answered. "I'm looking for Ron."

"He's in here with us. Come in and sit down." I said as she began to fumble around the compartment in the dark. Before we could share any information the door slid slowly open. By now someone had found their wand and whispered _Lumos_ in the dark. Standing in the doorway illuminated by the wandlight, was a cloaked figure that towered towards the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that decayed in water.

"Everyone stay where you are." Harry whispered. He didn't need to tell me twice. I was paralyzed with fear, my hand interlocked with Draco's. I tried to slow down my breathing, afraid it would set off the creature, and then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than air from its lungs. An intense cold swept the room it felt as if I had stopped breathing all together. Soon the cold was running deeper than my skin, like it was inside my chest, inside my heart. I was drowning in cold. Then far away there was screaming, terrible, terrified pleading screams. I couldn't feel anyone around me despite the compartment's tight space. The screaming was gone nearly as soon as it had come.

"Alice! Alice!" Emily's voice was panicking. "Oh do you think she's alright?"

"She'll be just fine. Emily, just give her some space." The floor was shaking—the Hogwarts Express was moving again and the lights had come back on. I opened my eyes, I was laying on the floor of the compartment with Remus standing over me. He extended his hand and helped me stand. After forcing some chocolate into my hand he had me sit down next to Draco.

"You ok?" Harry asked from across the compartment, cradling his head and nibbling on his piece of chocolate.

"Yeah. What happened? Where's that…_thing? _Who screamed?"

"No one screamed." Hermione answered alarmed.

"Someone definitely screamed I heard it too!" Harry agreed

"You two feeling alright?" Draco asked.

"You mean no one else heard it?" I asked as Harry and I exchanged a look. _Great another freaky Potter twin thing. _I sighed internally.

"Honestly no one was screaming. " Remus answered worry creasing his brow. I settled to nibbling on the chocolate hoping everyone else would drop it.

"What was that thing?" Emily asked innocently.

"A dementor." Remus and Harry answered together.

"How…" I started to ask, but Remus answered my unspoken question.

"One of the guards of Azkaban." He elaborated. _That's how Harry knew what one was._ Remus made sure everyone had plenty of chocolate before heading off to speak with the driver.

"I don't understand, what happened?"

"Well the thing…" Ginny began

"Dementor!" Luna added

"Right, dementor" Ginny continued annoyed "It stood there, looking around, well it didn't look really because it didn't have a face."

"I thought the two of you were having a fit." Ron inserted, still not entirely convinced that we weren't. "Harry went sort of rigid, and Alice you fell out of your seat."

"And then we heard Professor Lupin say something like 'none of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't go so he mumbled something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned and sort of glided away." Hermione concluded.

"Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?" Luna asked.

"It felt weird, like I'd never be cheerful again." Emily shuddered. Remus returned to the compartment a few minutes later.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. You two feeling any better?"

"Fine." We mumbled embarrassed.

"Alright, then I'm heading back to the Professor's car. See you at the feast." He left with a one last worried look. The rest of the train ride was very quiet, everyone was absorbed in their own thoughts. When we finally arrived in Hogsmeade Draco, Emily, Luna and I climbed into one carriage while Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny clambered into a second. By the time I stepped out of the carriage I had decided this was officially the worst ride to Hogwarts I had ever had.

"Did you actually faint Potter?" I rolled my eyes at the sound of my least favorite Slytherin Pansy Parkinson.

"Not like it's any of your business Porkin-son." I said as I kept walking towards Hogwarts. She was not going to enjoy that, but I didn't care it had been a long night and I just wanted to rest in my warm fourpost bed. The door to the Great Hall was wide open and the warm smells of the feast were wafting through. The eight of us followed the crowd on the way to the Great Hall.

"Potter! Granger! My office." Instinctively turned around at the sound of my name. "Not you Mrs. Potter. Though Professor Snape has informed me that he would like you to report to his office after the feast." _Wonderful. _I thought to myself.

"Well see you later Harry." I waved off and took a seat between Emily and Draco at the Slytherin table. New students at Hogwarts were sorted into Houses by the Sorting Hat, which shouted out the house they were best suited for. (Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw) Not long after the sorting ceremony Harry and Hermione took their seats at the Gryffindor table and Professor Dumbledore began his start of term Speech.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast." Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued. "As you will all be aware after their search on the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises—or Invisibility Cloaks." He added Blandly. _I wonder who that's referring to. _I thought sharing a knowing look with Harry from across the Hall. "It is not the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects and our new head Boy and Girl to makes sure that to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors." He said.

I could see Ron's brother Percy puffing his chest up and looking around "Impressively" I tried the best that I could to stiffen a laugh. Percy couldn't stop students from getting petrified by a basilisk last year, what makes him think he can protected them from dementors?

"On a happier note!" Dumbledore began again. "I am pleased to welcome a new teacher to our ranks this year." _So we're just going to pretend the whole Sirius thing didn't happen then? _ I thought to myself. "I'm sorry to say that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher retired at the end of last year in order to spend time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on teaching in addition to his gamekeeping duties." There was a large bout of applause from Hagrid but it was admittedly the loudest from the Gryffindor table.

"We should have known! Who else would assign a biting book!" Ron exclaimed for the entire hall to hear. The entire Great Hall erupted in a sea of laughter. When the laughing had died down Dumbledore spoke again.

"Well I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"


	4. Chapter 4

As happened every year the golden plates and goblets were suddenly filled with food and drink. Draco helped himself to anything he could get his hands on, while Emily took dainty-lady-like portions of only her favorite foods. I suppose I fell somewhere between the two. The three of us hardly spoke a word as we enjoyed the feast. When finally the last bits of apple pie and pumpkin tart had been wiped away, Dumbledore signaled the school off the bed.

"Where are you off to?" Draco asked and I turned away from the Slytherin dungeons and up the marble steps instead. I turned to him hoping he would understand the hidden meaning.

"I have to go see Professor Snape. McGonagall told me he wanted to see me after the feast, so I won't be off to bed until after the rest of the Slytherins." He nodded with understanding.

"See you in the morning then." This was one of the moments when life got complicated. The entire wizarding world was under the impression that I was living with Remus as my guardian, but in fact the job was given to Severus. Because of this, secrecy was often required whenever Severus was involved. The fact that Severus was the head of the house often made it easier for us to meet without raising suspicion, but no Head of House would ask to see their student after Dumbledore had ordered them all to bed. Draco knew all of this and it was a rather complicated story as to how he found out, but thanks to this fact he was often able to cover for me. I waited for most of my house to slither down to the dormitories before entering Severus' office. I took a seat across from him and waited for him to speak.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." I answered.

"Just fine?" I gave him a "_you're not going to like what I have to say" _look. "Be honest." He continued giving me a pointed stare. _Well if you insist, _I thought heaving a sign.

"How long have you known about Sirius?" I asked. The question hung in the air for a few minutes, neither of us speaking. When no answer came I launched into my own assumptions. "Let me guess, that's why we travelled so much this summer. You kept me moving, trying to keep me away from the papers, from my friends, to keep me from finding out. What's even worse you kept me from Remus and Harry who really needed me! You let me make a fool of myself by sitting on that train, knowing nothing about what happened in my own brother's life.Remus couldn't even stand to look at me. I committed a huge act of betrayal without even knowing it."

"I thought what I was doing was best. There was nothing we could do to help the situation. Your brother found a safe home at the Weasley's, and an upset werewolf is completely unpredictable. It would have been reckless for me to allow you to stay in that environment."

"Whenever you say 'I thought what I was doing was best' It usually results in something that hurts me. We agreed a long time ago never to lie to each other, but lately that's all you been doing to me. I'm headstrong like my mother, inventive like my father, dedicated like you, and incredibly witty like Remus. I have the best traits of all four of you, and yet you never trust me. You always say that I'm going to do something reckless and dangerous but it's almost like you don't know me at all! You never stopped to think for a moment that if you gave me a chance I could be brilliant!"

"Allison it's not that I don't think you are brilliant. Of course I think you're brilliant, but as much as you represent the best of us, sometimes you represent the worst in us. Your mother was headstrong, but she was also compulsive. Your father was _inventive_ but he was also attached to trouble, Remus is witty, but he often puts his emotion before his brain, and I am dedicated, but I am also too trusting at times. Those traits though beneficial separate, can be deadly when combine. My job as your guardian is keeping you safe. You may not see it right now, but someday…someday you will understand what I mean, and you will wish you had listened to me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away, but Black could be dangerous and I wanted to make sure Hogwarts was a safe place before I shared any information with you."

"What do you mean he 'could be' dangerous. You're a death eater, you can find out the truth can't you?" I hoped that his death eater connections could at least work out in our favor this time.

"I'm afraid not. The dark lord kept his informants a secret to even those in his inner circle like myself. No one could possibly know exactly where he got his information from. And obviously the dark lord is defeated now so it is not as if one could simply ask him. Now could we get onto more important topics?" I nodded my head reluctantly not sure what he would consider a 'more important topic.' "How are you feeling? Remus said you fainted earlier? Heard screams?"

"I already said fine." I recounted the events of the train to him. "Once I ate the bits of chocolate I felt perfectly fine honestly." I reassured him. He seemed to believe me.

"Well then, you best be heading off the bed. The password is serpent's tongue." We said goodnight and I stepped out into the dingy Hogwarts dungeons. I had forgotten how dark it was down there after spending the summer in the sun. I stumbled through the damp corridors until I came to a dead end.

"Serpent's tongue." I said after the large wooden door had materialized I stepped through and found my way to the girl's dormitory. I quickly located a room marked with my name and flopped myself onto the only empty bed in the room not even bothering to change before drifting off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke the next morning as Emily tried to quietly ready herself.

"You awake then?" She yawned as she tied her shoes.

"Just barley." I answered, stretching my hands high above my head. I replaced my soiled cloths with fresh ones, and we made our way down to breakfast. I rubbed my eyes and picked out some pieces of toast. Soon enough the Heads of House began pacing up and down the long wooden tables passing out schedules. _Well let's have a look then. _I thought as Severus approached our end of the table.

"Good morning, Professor Snape!" Emily beamed cheerily.

"Yes good morning Miss Smith." Severus said drearily. "Your schedules girls." He added bored as he handed a sheet of parchment to each of us. Emily glanced over my shoulder. What did you end up with?"

"Well looks like I'm off to Muggle Studies after this, you?"

"Divination." I couldn't hold in my laugh.

"You're taking Divination? Why on earth would you do that? "

"It seems interesting." She said with a shy glance.

"It's a crock!" I added in hysterics. "Honestly Em I don't know why they even consider it a subject." Then I stopped myself. I had heard someone say those very same words to me. _Allison, muggle studies? Honestly I don't know why they even consider it a subject._ He had argued with me for hours before he finally retracted. _Well it's your education if you want to waste it on such a frivolous subject by all means…_

"Well I thought…you know easier to get better marks…" She let her sentence trail off as she looked down at her breakfast embarrassed.

"Hey look, Em I'm sorry. it's great that you've found something that you're interested in!"

"Really?" The light was back in her eyes as soon as it had gone.

"Yeah of course! I'm sure you'll have a great time. See you in History of Magic then?" I asked as we left the Great Hall.

"History of Magic, now there's a subject we can _both _agree is useless." She chirped. I laughed. That was one of the best things about Emily, her quick ability to bounce back. We parted ways as Emily bounded up the stairs towards the North Tower.

"Well how was Divinations?" I asked her as she sat down next to me.

"It was interesting to say the least." Draco answered as he passed by on his way to his friends Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well, Professor Trelawney, she started off the class by saying 'It's so nice to see you in the physical world at last!' She then went on to tell is that she hardly ever leaves the tower because the hustle and bustle of the castle clouds her inner eye. It sort of makes sense I guess." She told me hoping I would not judge her, but I had spent a lot of my life pretending was listening intently and I did just that as Emily continued on about Divinations. "Professor Trelawney said that Divinations is the most difficult of all magical arts. So first term we're going to be studying teas leaves!" She continued on for several minutes about the "subtle art of tea leaves" but she really got my attention when she started talking about Harry.

"…Then Professor Trelawney was reading Harry's tea leaves, where she saw a falcon and said her had a deadly enemy."

"But everyone knows _that!_" I said a little too loudly. "Sorry." I said to the class and continued whispering to Emily.

"Well that's what Hermione said too so then Professor Trelawney…"

"Wait did you say that's what Hermione said?" I asked.

"Well um yeah, so anyway…"

"Emily that's impossible, because Hermione was in Muggle Studies with me." I was pretty sure she was anyway; she earned about fifty points for Gryffindor by identifying muggle items.

"No Alice, she was definitely in Divinations, she sat next to me, I read her tea leaves!" Emily was speaking at much louder than a whisper now.

"Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Potter, perhaps you would like to continue this conversation in detention?" Asked Professor Binns.

"No Professor." We mumbled in embarrassment.

"Well then I suggest you pay attention. 10 points each from Slytherin." We didn't speak through the rest of the class, thankfully Hermione agreed to give us her notes to copy.

"What were you two arguing about anyway?" She asked as she, Harry, and Ron walked with us to Care of Magical Creatures.

"About what you said in class, Alice was trying to say…" But I shot Emily a warning look. If something weird was going on with Hermione we needed more evidence before we brought it up to her.

"I was just saying that I think Divinations in a rubbish subject, but Emily thinks it will be useful and interesting."

"Honestly, I don't see it as being that useful either. She tried to say Harry's leaves were showing the Grim. It's apparently some sort of death omen that looks like a big black dog."

"She's a nutter that Trelawney." Ron added. We continued to discuss the subject on the way down to Hagrid's hut. Harry offered no opinion on the matter either way.

"Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" For a moment I thought Hagrid was going to lead us right into the forbidden forest, but thankfully he lead us to the edge of the trees, where these was a kind of paddock. "Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid instructed us. "That's it—make sure yeh can see— now, firs' thing yeh'll want to do is open yer books—"

"How?" Ron asked, holding his book away at arm's length. It was a rather large book, bond with a belt. The book seemed to be fighting with all it's might to escape, as if it wanted to bit Ron's arm off. I dug into my bag and pulled out my own chomping copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters._

"Eh?" Hagrid asked confused.

"How do we open our books?" Draco asked.

"Hasn'—Hasn'anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked looking downcast. The entire class shook our heads.

"Yeh've got to _stroke_ 'em." Hagrid stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look…" He took Neville's copy of the book and ripped off the spellotape that was binding it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant finger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open quietly in his hand.

"Oh how silly we've all been!" Draco sneered. "We should have _stroked _them! Why did we guess?"

"I—I thought they were funny." Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Draco retorted sarcastically. "Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our hands off!"

"Shut up Malfoy!" _Not this again. _

"You two give it a rest! Let Hagrid get on with the lesson." I snapped. Neither Harry nor Draco looked pleased to end their argument, but they didn't continue either.

"Righ' then, So—so yeh've got yer books an'—an'—now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on." And with that Hagrid strode away from us and into the forest out of sight. I knew that was a mistake from the start.

"This place is going to the dogs." Draco said, mostly to himself.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry repeated.

"Careful Potter, there's a dementor behind you!"

"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" I burst. They looked like they were about to go onto round three, but Emily drew their attention elsewhere.

"Oooooooh!" She squealed, pointing towards the direction Hagrid has just left from. Trotting towards us were a pack of bizarre creatures. They had the bodies and hind legs of horses, but the front legs, wings and heads of giant eagles. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and their necks were attached to long chains, which lead to Hagrids strong hand.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily. "Beau'ful aren' they?" I suppose once you got over the initial terror of the beasts, there was a type of majestic-ness about them. "So if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer…" No one dared move any closer to the fence. After a few moments Harry approached the Hippogriffs with caution. "Now, fir' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do." Though no one made a move to approach them, we all listened attentively.

"Yeh always wait for the Hippogriff ter make the fers' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed to touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from himsharpish, 'cause those talons hurt…Right—who wants to go first?" The whole thing sounded rather terrifying to me. Instinctively I took an extra step backwards for goos measure. I noticed much of the class had done the same.

"No one?" Hagrid asked with a pleading look.

"I'll do it." Harry said boldly stepping forward. There was an intake for breath to my right.

"Ooh no Harry!" exclaimed a Gryffindor named Lavender Brown.

"Remember your tea leaves!" cried out her friend Pavarti Patil.

"Oh please." Hermione and I responded in unison rolling our eyes. Both Harry and Hagrid seemed to have ignored this entire exchange.

"Good man, Harry! Right then—let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." Hagrid continued on. He untied one of the chains, pulling a grey Hippogriff away from the rest of the group. "Easy now Harry, yeh got eye contact, now try not ter blink…Hippogriffs don't trust you if you blink too much." Buckbeak turned his fierce orange eyes to meet Harry's emerald ones. "That's it Harry! That's it, now bow." Harry looked like he'd rather turn and run off, but he did just as Hagrid said and gave a deep bow before looking up. The Hippogriff was staring at him. It didn't move an inch. "Ah, Right, back away now Harry, easy does it." But just then Buckbeak suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was a definite bow.

"Well done Harry!" I called out after him. Ron, Hermione, and Emily joined in.

"Right, yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!" Hagrid instructed. Harry moved slowly towards the Hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted the beak several times and Buckbeak closed his eyes lazily, he seemed to be enjoying it. "Right then Harry, I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!" Harry, who was much more comfortable on a broomstick, looked as if he had bitten off more that he could chew. "Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing ' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers, he won' like that." Harry put his foot on Buckbeak's wing and hoisted himself onto his back. Buckbeak stood up. "Go on then!" Hagrid called slapping Buckbeak's hindquarters.

Buckbeak flew Harry a few times around the paddock and then landed gracefully back on the ground, in the center of the cheering class.

"Good Work Harry! Okay who else wants to go?" Due to Harry's success the entire class wanted a go at the Hippogriffs. A line was formed and soon several students were bowing in front of their own giant beast. In an attempt to best Harry, Draco had gone after Buckbeak. Emily and I were watching him from our spots in line as he reached over to pat Buckbeak's beak.

"This is very easy." He called back to us. "I knew it must have been if Potter could do it." He then turned back to Buckbeak. "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you, you great ugly brute?" What happened after that, was so fast it could barely be seen by the human eye. Draco had let out a high pitched scream one moment, and in the next Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into a collar. I rushed to Draco as he lay on the grass bleeding.

"I'm dying! I'm dying! Look at me! It's killed me!" I looked him over while Hagrid was preoccupied. I had seen enough of werewolf damage and quidditch wounds to know what was fatal and what was not.

"You're not dying." I said with a groan. "But maybe this will teach you to stop always trying to upstage Harry." I added bitterly, and walked away.

"Class dismissed." Hagrid said half-heartedly as he scooped Draco into his arms and walked up towards the castle. Most of the class was shaken up about what they had seen, and it took a few minutes for it all to process.

"They should fire him straight away!" Pansy Parkinson cried out in tears._ Tears? Really? He's going to be fine._

"It was Malfoy's fault!" Snapped Dean Thomas.

"I'm going to see if he's ok!" Pansy said running after Hagrid.

"Oh for Merlin's sake he's going to be fine." I grumbled folding my arms across my chest.

"Do you really think he'll be alright?" Emily asked.

"Course he will. Madame Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second." Harry answered. All I could do was agree with him.

"That was a really bad thing to happen on Hagrid's first day though wasn't? Trust Malfoy to mess it up for him."

"They _wouldn't _fire him would they?" Hermione asked sympathetically.

"No way!" I exclaimed. "The professor's lessons have to be approved don't they? I'm sure Dumbledore understood the risks when Hagrid presented it. They can't sack him."

"They better not." Ron added in.

"I suppose we'll know soon enough." Harry said as he pointed towards where Draco's father stood with Severus and Professor Dumbledore. By the look on Severus' face, things were not going well.


	6. Chapter 6

I was not looking forward to the day ahead of me, as I absent mindedly dressed myself. If Draco's actions lead to Hagrid getting fired there was hardly anyone who'd forgive him. It would be another driving force, wedging Harry and Draco apart, widening the gap between my brother and bestfriend. Draco and I hadn't spoken since the incident. I wanted him to know I thought that what happened was entirely his fault and no one else's. What was worse, was today was the day we would be starting Defense Against the Dark Arts. Normally that was one of my favorite subjects, but this year, I imagined all the fun would be drained without Sirius. If not for everyone, this would most certainly be the case for Harry.

"Good-Morning Alice." Draco said taking a seat next to me.

"Don't good morning me. I'm not talking to you. Not for quite some time."

"Why not?"

"I think we both know _why not._" I replied grabbing my bag off the bench and stormed off towards Remus' classroom. Soon the classroom began to fill up with other Slytherins and Gryffindors, nearly the entire class was there before Remus walked in. Even he showed a bit of emptiness in his eyes without Sirius by his side. But he welcomed the class with the best fake smile he could muster.

"Good Morning! Please put your books in your bags. Today will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands!" The class did just as they were told, once everyone had their wands out Remus smiled again. "Right then, follow me." We followed him along a deserted corridor and around a corner to a second corridor. Remus led us down the second corridor, and stopped at the staffroom door. "Inside please." He instructed holding the door open. The staffroom was a long paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, and was empty of all faculty except for my favorite Potions Master. Severus was sitting in a low armchair, he was looking around as the class filed in, a nasty sneer plastered on his face. As Remus entered the room Severus stopped him.

"Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet strode towards the door, his black robes billowing behind him. _Not helping the bat persona Sev._ At the doorway he surveyed the class for a few moments, making sure that had all redirected their attention back to Remus, before leaning down in my ear. He spoke in a low whisper so that only I could hear him. "Keep an eye on him. Something is not right He's a bit _off_." I wanted to ask him what he meant by it, but he had once again turned towards the door, and disappeared down the corridor.

"Now then," Remus called everyone down to the far back of the room where an old wardrobe stood. Some of the professors stored spare robes in there, Ron, Draco and I had hid in that exact wardrobe last year when Ginny was kidnapped by the basilisk. As we made our way towards the wardrobe, it wobbled and banged the wall. "Nothing to worry about, there's a boggart in there. Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboard under sinks—I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. So the first question we must ask ourselves is what _is _a boggart?"

As usual, the first hand to shoot up was Hermione's. "It's a shape shifter." She said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself. Well done Hermione." He said with a smile, but all of the light had gone out of his voice. Severus was right there was definitely something off about him. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each person fears most. This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it Harry?" Harry looked as if he in fact had no idea what Remus was hinting too.

"Er—because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

"Precisely! It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. I once saw a boggart make that very mistake. Tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into a half slug. Not remotely frightening." This made me wonder about Remus' experiences with boggarts. How many had he in fact met? And why? "The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is _laughter_. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me please. _Riddikulus!"_

"Riddikulus!" We chimed back.

"Good. Very good." Remus congratulated. "But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come I, Neville." _Why Neville? _Emily mouthed to me. I shrugged my shoulders in response. The wardrobe gave another great shake as Neville made his way to the front of the class.

"What do I do?" He asked confused.

"First things first, what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?" Neville's lips seemed to move but no noise came out. "Sorry, what was that?" Remus asked. Neville looked around the class begging for help with his eyes.

"Professor Snape." He answered finally to the floor. Nearly everyone erupted into laughter. I found even myself chuckling along. Everyone knew that Neville had feared Severus since our first potions class.

"Professor Snape…Neville you live with your grandmother correct?"

"Er—yes" Neville answered nervously. "But, I…I don't want the boggart to turn into her either."

"No, no you misunderstand me. I wonder could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

"Well, always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress, green normally, and sometimes a fox fur scarf." I could see why Neville wouldn't want his grandmother to materialize. She sounded rather frightening.

"And a handbag?" Remus asked curiously. _Where are you going with this?_

"A big red one!" Neville answered excitedly.

"Right then, can you picture those clothes very clearly Neville? Can you see them in your mind?"

"Yes."

"When the boggart burst out of this wardrobe, Neville and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape. And you will raise your wand and cast riddikulus and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag. If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn. I would like you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most and imagine how you might force it to look comical." I wasn't sure what feared me most. I looked around the room. Ron seemed to be concentrating very hard on something, we all knew Ron was afraid of spiders. Hermione I suppose was afraid of failing. I seemed to remember Emily mentioning something about snakes, which was ironic, her being in Slytherin and all. Remus instructed us all to form a large circle around Neville as we continued to think.

"Think of anything yet?" Harry asked. I was about to say no, when I suddenly realized what I feared most in the world. _Losing you._ But it wasn't just Harry. It was Remus, Severus, Emily, Draco all of them. Losing them would be the worst thing in my life.

"Yeah." I whispered back.

"Everyone ready?" Remus asked the class. Harry looked like he wanted to answer no, but made no indication to do so. "Ok Neville, we're going to back away, and give you a clear field. I'll call the next person forward. Everyone backup now. Neville, Open the wardrobe." And then Severus marched out of the wardrobe. Immediately his eyes flashed towards Neville, he took a few strides in his direction, before towering over him.

"R…Riddikulus!" Neville stammered out. There was a noise like a whip-crack, and then Severus' long black robes had been replaced by the exact horrid outfit Neville had described. The class erupted into laughter. Even I found myself chuckling along.

"Parvati forward!" The boggart turned to Parvati, changing shape to a bloody-bandaged mummy.

"Riddikulus!" Parvati countered confidently. Some of the mummy's bandages came undone, and he landed face forward, with his head rolling off.

"Ron!" A giant spider, at least eight feet tall and covered in hair, replaced the fallen mummy. Ron looked absolutely terrified, but he was eventually able to bellow out "riddikulus!" The rest of the class continued on in much the same way. Untill the boggart made it's way to Remus. A silver moon, that was effortlessly reddikulused into an deflated balloon.

"finish him off Neville!" The boggart was back to the form of Severus, but Neville charged forward and cast "Riddikulus" with a shout. A final burst of laughter from the room finished off the boggart as it exploded in a cloud of smoke. "Excellent, Excellent! Well done everyone! Now that's five house points to everyone who tackled to boggart, ten for Neville, because he did it twice, and five points for Hermione and Harry!"

"But I didn't do anything!" It was only at this point, that I realized that Harry, Hermione and I had been the only students in the class who had not tackled the boggart.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class Harry." Remus answered. "Very well everyone, and excellent lesson! Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts, and summarize it for me by Monday. Thank you that will be all." I wanted to stay behind and ask Remus why he was acting so strange so I tried to fall back from the group of students exiting the room. Almost as if reading my mind, Remus called back to the class. "Remember students are generally prohibited from being in the staff break room, so please no not delay you exit any longer than necessary." I rolled my eyes and picked up pace so that I could catch up with Emily.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a few weeks since the hippogriff incident had happened in our Care of Magic Creatures class. The class had grown increasingly dull, and it was by far my least favorite class. However I couldn't help but feel like the dullness of Hagrid's class was mostly due to Draco's actions on the first day. Draco and I still weren't speaking; something that I knew wouldn't be able to go on much longer. For the time being however, I decided to go without speaking to him for as long as possible. I had also made it a point to avoid talking to Hermione whenever possible. She had continued to show up both to Emily's Divinations class and my Muggle Studies class. Something was definitely going on, and until I had time or energy to figure it out, I planned on avoiding any unnecessary moments with her. The rest of the classes were going well, but I noticed at strained relationship growing between Severus and Remus. It was lunchtime as I glanced up at the staff table. The two of them were sitting side by side, not talking, not daring to look at each other. I decided to pay a visit to Remus after my afternoon classes. Out of the two of them, he was more likely to tell me what's going on.

"Alice, are you even listening to me?" Emily asked as she huffed a blond curl away from her eye.

"What? Yeah…Oh no, Sorry. I was just…" _I was just what? Trying to figure out the invisible tension between my godfather and guardian?_

"You were just thinking about how lonely Professor Lupin must be without Professor Black." She whispered._ Oh Emily, you're always so kind and caring. _That was one of the best things about Emily she was always thinking of everyone else first. "I know if it were us, I'd be miserable without you." This completely through me off my train of thought, I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her.

"Em, that is so sweet! I'd be miserable without you too! I'm sorry what were you talking about before? When I wasn't listening?" I asked letting go, as the lunch foods disappeared into deserts.

"Oh, I was just saying about how they've announced the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, Halloween. The heads of houses will be collecting the permission forms, we're to turn them in before that day. I was wondering if you had heard?"

"Oh. No, I haven't had the chance to look at the board in the common room. Glad at least one of us pays attention! You've gotten your parents to sign your slip then?" I asked as we made our way out of the Great Hall towards Transfigurations.

"Oh Yes! My parents told me about how much fun they had walking around Hogsmeade in their Hogwarts years, they signed my slip as soon as the letter came! Are you going, to Hogsmeasde?" She lowered her voice "Or will you be staying with Harry?" I was about to ask why she was whispering when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the class.

"Why wouldn't Harry be going to Hogsmeade?" I whispered back.

"Well, because I doubt Professor Black was able to sign his Permission form. Before he, you know…" She dropped her voice solemnly.

"Oh. Yeah I suppose he didn't. I'll talk to Harry about it later, if he wants me to stay, I guess I'll have to."

"Oh Kay." She added. Within a few moments Professor McGonagall began her lecture. During class, I was able to send Harry a note asking him to meet me before dinner. Later that night I was on my way up to the Gryffindor common room, where I was supposed to be meeting Harry, when I passed Ron and Hermione In the middle of a screaming match.

"I'm telling you Hermione, if you don't keep that bloody cat away from Scabbers!"

"Oh honestly Ronald, he's a cat, it's only in his nature. All cats hate rats, it's in their nature!"

"All I'm saying is that Scabbers has been ill since we've gotten back from Egypt, what he needs is rest. Not some bloody devil chasing him 'round every corner!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand that what he's doing is wrong, and furthermore, I _do not_ think it is fair that your _rat_ gets to prance around the common room, but Crookshanks is expected to be locked in my room." Both of their voices were then drown out by a deafening scream. The three of us glanced around before bounding up the staircase towards the scream. A large crowd of students, mostly Gryffindors had gathered around the portrait of the Fat Lady that served as the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. From behind us the familiar voice of Ron's brother Percy came calling.

"Let me through please! What is the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password." He continued pushing his way through the crowd. "Excuse me, I'm Head Boy…" Once Percy reached the front of the crowd, he "Turned and in a sudden sharp voice exclaimed "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick." I was close to the back of the crowd, so without thinking I turned and ran to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Lemon Drops!" I shouted jumping onto a marble step as it rose to Professor Dumbledore's Office. I knocked once on the office door, and without awaiting a reply, pushed the door open. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk; Severus was standing across from him. It appeared that I had interrupted some sort of heated argument between the two of them. Upon seeing me, Dumbledore reconfigured his face to its usual serene design, and Severus' scowl only deepened.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Professor Dumbledore, but Percy Weasley sent me. It seems there is something wrong with the Fat Lady Portrait." I exclaimed out of breath.

"Then, let us not delay, thank you Miss Potter." They made their way to the Gryffindor common room, I followed close behind. Once Dumbledore arrived the students parted so that he could get a close up look at the portrait. I was able to crane my neck just enough to see that the portrait had been destroyed. The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait; it had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas covered the floor.

"We need to find her!" Professor Dumbledore announced to the crowd.

"You'll be lucky!" a voice cackled. It was Peeves the poltergeist who was known for making trouble throughout the castle.

"What do you mean Peeves?" Dumbledore asked. Peeves was usually defiant, but he dare not defy Dumbledore.

"Ashamed, your Headship, Sir," Peeves responded. "Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between trees. Crying something dreadful."

"Did she say who did it?" Professor Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Oh yes Professorhead. He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."


	8. Chapter 8

My mind was reeling. The crowd burst into a loud chatter.

"Quiet, Quiet please. Everyone please make your way to the Great Hall and await further instructions. Percy, please send a message through the ghosts, have all the students gather in the hall, then if you would please wake Professor Flickwick. I'll see to Professor Sprout." The large crown turned away as Professor McGonagall lead the way towards the Great Hall. Soon we were joined by the remaining Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins all of whom looked extremely confused. Somehow through the chaos Emily was able to find her way to my side. "What's going on?" She asked. I was about to answer when Professor McGonagall addressed the school.

"Professor Dumbledore has deemed it necessary for all of the Professors to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that for your own safety you will have to spend the night here. Prefects are to stand guard over the entrances to the hall, and the Head Boy and Girl are in charge. _Any _disturbance should be reported immediately. And I suppose you'll need these." With a casual wave of her wand, the five long tables that usually occupy the hall flew to the edge of the hall. With a second flick the floor became freshly tiled with soft purple sleeping bags. Professor McGonagall and Severus left without another word. I was in shock. It took everything I had to process what was expected of me. Thehall was buzzing as the Gryffindors told the rest of the school about the Fat Lady. Percy made and attempt to settle everyone down.

"Everyone into their sleeping bags, come on now, no more talking, lights out in ten minutes." I reached for the nearest sleeping bag, once Emily had done the same we began to look for Harry. We were able to find him tucked in the farthest corner, next to Hermione and Ron, their earlier argument long forgotten.

"Do you think Sirius is still in the castle?" Hermione asked as we approached.

"Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be." Ron answered crawling into his sleeping bag.

"But how did he get in?" Emily asked.

"Well he knows how to apparate." Harry answered. Harry. Poor Harry. As much as I was having trouble processing this, it must have been ten times harder for him.

"He can't have just apparated, nor could he have flown in. The castle is protected by more than just walls you know." Hermione interjected, interrupting my thoughts. "There are all sorts of enchantments on it to stop people from entering by stealth. You can't just apparate in here. And I'd like to see a disguise that could fool those dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in too. And Filch knows all the secret passages they'll have them covered."

"I just, don't understand why he'd _want _to break into the castle." I added.

"Maybe we were wrong about it all, maybe…you know, maybe the ministry's got it right." Ron suggested uncomfortable.

"Maybe." Harry added. All emotion was gone from his voice, before anyone could reject Ron's theory Percy was calling throughout the hall again.

"The lights are going out now! I want everyone in their sleeping bags, No more talking!" All of the candles went out at once, but the enchantment on the ceiling kept the stars shinning bright. If you could forget for a moment why we were there, it was almost peaceful sleeping in the Great Hall. That's probably why Emily, Hermione and Ron fell asleep so easily. Harry and I however, were kept up for most of the night. We dared not speak, because every half hour without fail a professor would poke their head into the hall and ask Percy for a progress update. Finally the doors to the Great Hall were opened and two pairs of footsteps evenly made their way to Percy's own, a few feet away.

"Any sign of him Professors?" Percy asked as they approached.

"No. all well here?" Dumbledore asked in a level tone.

"Everything is under control, sir." Percy answered. I could just picture him puffing his chest with pride at his own good work.

"Good. There's no point in moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back tomorrow."

"And the Fat lady sir?" Percy asked in a genuinely concerned voice.

"She was hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

"Very well. Good night then Professors." Percy's footsteps echoed away so some other part of the hall where he could be heard rustling into a sleeping bag.

"Have you any theories on how he got in Albus?" Severus asked when they were standing alone.

"Many Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before the start of term?" Severus tried to imply.

"I do Severus." Dumbledore added in a clear attempt to get Severus to change the subject.

"It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help. " Severus added, not remotely thwarted by Dumbledore.

"I do not think that a single person in this castle would have helped Black enter it. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go down to the dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help search?"

"Oh yes," Dumbledore added coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster." He turned on his heels and left without another word. Severus, having no further business there, paced a few laps around the hall, and then exited himself. Who did Severus think would let Sirius into the castle? My best guess was Harry or Remus, but he had to know that Remus would never dare do anything that defied Dumbledore, and I doubted Harry possessed the knowledge to sneak a convicted prisoner into Hogwarts. My brain whirled with possibilities before my body's desire for sleep finally overtook me, and I shut my eyes with a final glance up at the enchanted ceiling.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day the whole school was buzzing about Sirius. That's why it came to great relieve to me when the Slytherin quidditch captain Marcus Flint, came over to me that morning.

"Please say we're going to start training soon! I'm just inching to get back on my broom." I asked as he approached.

"Sorry Potter, just coming to tell you that I've spoken to Madame Hooch, she's agreed to let us trade off with Hufflepuff in the upcoming match against Gryffindor. Wouldn't be fair to Draco you know, with his arm and all."

"Right. Yeah. Like it was fair to Hagrid, what Draco did?" I snapped.

"Just let me be the captain alright Potter? And I won't tolerate fighting between team mates this year got it? One fight and you're off the team." He was about to walk away when he glanced over his shoulder, "But if you want to pound some Gryffindors be my guest."

"What a jerk." Emily chimed in. "It was totally Draco's fault what happened to him, and the team shouldn't suffer because of it."

"At least someone agrees with me." I answered with a sigh. "Well I guess it's a good thing he cancelled anyway. The match is scheduled for this weekend. Gryffindor's been at it for a month now, there's no way we'd win."

"See there's always a positive side to everything!" Emily exclaimed as we made our way into the Defense Against the dark Arts Classroom. Nearly the entire class was already present, or was entering the room just behind Emily and I. We waited several minutes, and Remus still did not enter the class room. Several of the students turned to me.

"Alice, where is Professor Lupin?" several students asked at once. _How in the heck would I know?_ I thought to myself.

"Potter, he's your guardian, why don't you check to see if he's in his office." Draco instructed. _Giving good advice even when we're not speaking, _I made a mental note to thank Draco once we were on speaking terms again. I rose from my seat and made my way to the steps that lead up to Remus' office. _Please let him be in his office, please let him be __**alive**__ in his office. _I thought to myself as I placed my foot on the first step. Suddenly the large wooden door at the back of the classroom slammed open. I spun around, expecting to find Remus wearing his new false grin. Instead I was greeted by Serverus' black eyes, and his face arranged in a malice filled glare.

"Miss Potter, What do you think you're doing?" I hoped off the steps immediately, Severus always had a way of making me feel guilty when I hadn't done anything wrong.

"Sorry Professor Snape, I…we…we just thought that perhaps Professor Lupin was in his office, so I was going to look for him. I…"

"Invading the privacy of a Professor? That is a bold move even for you. Ten points from Slytherin, and I suggest you take your seat immediately unless you wish your house to suffer a greater loss of points."

"No sir." I said heading back to my seat at Emily's side as fast as possible. One I was planted firmly in the chair I raised my hand.

"Miss Potter, I haven't even had time to get settled, and you already have a question?"

"Yes sorry Professor, but um, where exactly did you say Professor Lupin was?"

"I Didn't Miss Potter." He answered coldly. "However I was just going to inform the class that Professor Lupin is feeling too ill to teach today. Now if that's all of your questions…"

"Actually Professor, just one more, what's wrong with him?" I asked knowing I was pushing my luck with his patience.

"Nothing life-threatening, and if you have any further questions I'd be happy to answer then in detention."

"No Professor that won't be necessary." I replied.

"Good. Now Professor Lupin has left me no record of any topics you have covered so far…"

"Please Sir," Hermione said quickly raising her hand in the air. "We've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas, and Grindylows."

"Be quite!" Severus snapped as she lowered her hand in embarrassment. _Well you asked for it Hermione._ "I did not ask for the information, I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization." _Well it's not like he planned on his teaching partner getting shipped off the Azkaban Sev. _Severus picked up Remus' copy of our text book that lay open on the desk. He flipped to the far back of the textbook.

"Werewolves." Severus said. _Werewolves? Severus you can't! _

"But Sir, we're not supposed to start werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks." Hermione interjected. I hoped with all my might that Severus would listen to her, but a self-declared double agent doesn't change its spots so quickly.

"Miss Granger," Severus began in a tone that showed he was clearly trying to maintain his temper. "I was under the impression that _I_ was teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you to turn to page 394." He glanced around the room, as few students even moved to get their books out of their bags. "_All _of you._ Now!"_ He commanded. We complied reluctantly to the demand, myself more than the others.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Instinctively Hermione and I shot our hands straight in the air. Severus made it a point to ignore both our outstretched arms.

"Anyone?" A twisted smile was now dancing across his face. "are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basics distinction between…" But Pavarti Patil interrupted his insult.

"We told you, we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on…"

"_Silence."_ Severus snarled. "Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who couldn't even recognize a werewolf when they saw one." _You wouldn't. _I thought _You'd never be so heartless._ Hermione and I maintained our hands' positions in the air, trying to defy is judgments. "I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very far behind you all are."

"Please Sir," Hermione interjected, the pain from her arm being extended for so long finally getting the better of her. It was a bad choice interrupting him again, but at least it gave me an excuse to lower my own arm. "The werewolf differs from the true wolf in several ways. The snout of the werewolf…"

"That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Five points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all." _Can you even take points away for that?_ I thought as Hermione lowered her hand and began staring at the floor, eyes filling with tears. Nearly everyone in the class had called Hermione a know-it-all at one point or another, Ron at least twice a week. That didn't stop him from rushing to her defense.

"You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?" This was too far for Severus; he advanced towards Ron slowly, as the class held its breath. He wouldn't dare hit Ron, I knew that, but sometimes, it was what Severus implied that was scarier than an actual punishment.

"Detention Weasley, and if I ever hear you criticize how I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed." No one, including me, dared make a sound for the remainder of the lesson. We sat in complete silence taking notes on werewolves from the textbook. If we were home, I would have whined about how utterly useless it was for me to take notes on the subject, because I could tell you everything the textbook included on werewolves and then some. However, whining would not earn me much sympathy with Severus in this mood. So I painstakingly took notes, even daring to elaborate some areas where the textbook fell short on information. Severus meanwhile prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work we had previously turned into Remus, and he was not shy letting his opinion known.

"Very poorly explained…That is incorrect, the kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia…Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I would have given it three…" When the bell rang at last we all raced to pack our things as quick as possible, but Severus held us back.

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I wand two scrolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Mr. Weasley please stay behind we need to arrange your detention."

The rest of the class cleared out faster than anything I had ever seen. Even Harry and Hermione had readily abandoned Ron, so as to put as much distance between Severus and themselves. I was furious with Severus, but I couldn't very well tell him so in front of Ron. I packed my things along with Emily and we turned to exit the classroom.

"Miss Potter." Severus called after me. _"For the love of Merlin what?" _I thought before I heard Emily gasp beside me.

"You just said that out loud." She whispered by my side.

"Remember me fondly." I whispered back as she raced out of the room.

"Miss Potter." Severus raged. "I was simply going to tell you to keep your attitude in check, now I think we need to have a much deeper conversation about it. My office _Now." _ I swear that was his most favorite phrase in the whole universe. I stormed out of the room without another word.


	10. Chapter 10

I waited several minute for Severus to finish his scheduling with Ron. During that time I alternated between pacing in his office, and sitting in his chair drumming my fingers on the desk. I was doing the latter when he finally entered the office.

"Out of my chair young lady." The average child about to be punished by their guardian would have guiltily hopped out of the chair and walked around the desk to the opposing armchair. Not me, out of spite for his behavior, I stood on his chair, climbed over the desk atop the armchair, and then sat down. He scowled at me, not moving from the spot. "Try that again Allison." I rolled my eyes.

"Fine." I whined, standing back on the armchair, climbing back across the desk, standing again on Severus' chair, and sitting down. I then rose again and walked around like a "Proper young lady" and sat again in the armchair. To top it off I faked a yawn as if the entire charade had just been a giant bore to me. Marching to his chair, Severus sat down.

"I am not amused young lady."

"Well then that makes two of us, _Professor._"

"How dare you defy me in front of Mister Weasley, and what was all of that business at the beginning of the class?"

"It was and honest slip of the tongue, like you've never thought something horrible of someone else. As far as the beginning of class, that was a genuine concern for Remus. You were blinded by your newfound hate for him to possibly believe that someone could still care for him." Voice was not raised, nor was it accusing, it was plain and dry.

"You are my first priority; any feelings of my own are secondary. And yet I do not allow my own judgment to affect my behavior as you so often do."

"You're honestly going to try that with me? Sev, you may be able to get away with those sorts of things with Dumbledore, but I know you. Think, think of Harry you treat Harry just because he _looks_ like our dad! Think of how you treated Hermione today, just because _you _don't like to be shown up! Or how you gave Ron detention because he pointed out a flaw in you! Let's not forget practically exposing Remus' secret out of your own hate? Those are all things you did, and now you're not even going to tell me where or what's happened to Remus. " I ranted exasperated.

"You are so infuriating at times! You share that fault with your mother, if you ever stopped to think for a moment, you would understand. The assignment was my subtle way to ensure you knew Remus was fine. The least unobservant student, who knew what you know, would cross reference the subject with the date. And yes, I dislike being disrespected, and the actions by yourself, Miss Granger, and Mister Weasley showed nothing but disrespect. I stand by my punishments, and honestly two scrolls on werewolves should not be a challenge for you."

"It's not the work it's the principle behind it all! I know I could easily write four scrolls on werewolves, it's the fact that you make up your mind, and nothing can change it, you don't ever listen to what anyone else says."

"It's settled then." He responded as if I was boring him now. He began shuffling around paperwork on his desk.

"What's settled? We didn't settle on anything!" I exclaimed exasperated.

"You'll write four scrolls on werewolves, rather than the two assigned to your classmates." He added looking up from his paperwork.

"That's so not fair!"

"Oh isn't it? You just said you could _easily_ write four scrolls on the subject. Therefore it would be unfair for me to allow you only write two. Every student should be equally challenged. It's either four scrolls or detention. Your choice." He stated offhandedly, returning to the paperwork.

"Detention, for what?"

"For your blatant disrespect during class today." It wasn't worth arguing, he'd already made his mind up, and being angry wasn't going to make anything better. I folded my arms across my chest.

"Four scrolls it is then. When is the essay due?" I was figuring he'd say sometime around a week. I mean, he knows we have other classes too.

"Monday. Weren't you paying attention at all in class today?" He dabbed a quill some red ink and started grading some student's work.

"Monday?! As in four days from now Monday?"

"Correct." He responded. Marking notes in the margins of the student's essay.

"Is there any point in arguing that with you?" I asked.

"None whatsoever."

"Alright then. Sev, where _is _Remus anyway?" My voice cracking with concern. Severus looked up at me, I could see in his eyes he was heavily calculating the pros and cons of telling me the truth.

"I do not know where he is, but I'm sure he will be returning soon."

"Sev, what's going on between you two? You usually get along so well, but lately I've noticed you've been uncomfortable around each other."

"It's really nothing to be concerned about Allison. Now, if you don't hurry, you're going to be late for your next class."

"Yeah." Grabbing my book bag off the floor I stood to leave the room. "Oh, I almost forgot." I dug around in my book bag for what I was looking for. "I'm supposed to have you sign this, so that I can turn it into my head of house. So I guess after you sign it, you can turn it into yourself." I said handing him the Hogsmeade permission slip. "I mean, unless you want me to have Remus filling it out. This is all starting to get confusing as too who is what, and when." He placed his quill down with a sigh.

"Welcome to my life." He mumbled thinking I couldn't hear him. He extended his hand and took the slip from my own hand. "I'll sign your slip, and I'll be sure to add it to the pile of forms I've already received."

"Thank you, Hey Sev, have I told you lately that I love you?"

"I believe you just did." He answered picking up the quill again.


	11. Chapter 11

It was the morning of the first quidditch match of the year, a match often reserved for Gryffindor versus Slytherin. While Emily and I enjoyed breakfast that morning, I was glad the Hufflepuffs were playing instead of us. The enchanted ceiling was showing an angry sky with crashing thunderstorms. After breakfast nearly the entire school made their way down to the pitch. With the wind still whipping, I was glad to take shelter in the Slytherin section of the quidditch stands.

"This is going to be some game." I barley heard Emily say in her low voice. We watched as the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors made their way across opposing ends of the field. The Hufflepuff seeker Cedric Diggory stood tall against the weather while Harry seemed to be struggling just to see. Madame Hooch, the referee of the game, ordered the teams to mount their brooms and the captains to shake hands. Once all of this was done the players flew off to their respective positions, their brooms swerving slightly from the wind. It quickly became difficult the keep track of individual players between the thunder and the speed of the players. I wasn't sure force was working harder against the Gryffindors, the Storm or the Hufflepuffs. After a few miserable attempts to try and stop the Hufflepuffs from scoring, the Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood called for a time out. I watched as Hermione made her way down to the Gryffindors.

"What is she doing?" I asked Emily.

"Who knows? When will the game start up again?" Emily answered. I focused on Hermione trying to see what she was doing. I could just faintly make out her tapping her wand on something round.

"Brilliant!" I exclaimed.

"What is?"

"Hermione of course. She just used an enchantment to make Harry's glasses repel water!"

"But I don't understand, why is that a good thing?"

"Because it means the Gryffindors are now stand a chance of winning."

"But the Gryffindor team is _better_ than the Slytherin team, wouldn't you rather play Hufflepuff?"

"Maybe the rest of the team would, but I'd rather go up against Harry than Diggory any day."

"Who?" She asked confused.

"Cedric Diggory." She was still giving me a confused look. "The Hufflepuff player that you tell me all the time is Charming." I said.

"Oooh! Well he is incredibly charming, and polite too!" I roll my eyes.

"Focus on the game, the time out's off." I couldn't tell you how much longer they played. To me it seemed like a few minutes, but to Harry and the other players I'm sure it felt much more like hours. Hermione's charm had work, and Harry was now able to see clearly through the rain and fog as he made his way toward the center of the pitch. Soaked to the bone, Harry's hands slipped off of his nimbus, my breath caught, but he was able to hoist himself back onto the broom. I relaxed back into my seat. "I'm so glad I'm not playing this game." I muttered mostly to myself. But then he was falling, fast, his body was slipping off the broom.

"HARRY!" I called out into the wind. There were no other players around him, not even a bludger, there was nothing that could have caused him to descend like that. I was on my feet now, waiting for the right time to run down to the pitch. That's when I saw them, Dementors, at least a hundred of them. I bolted out of the stands racing towards my brother as fast and as safely as my body would allow. Fred Weasley was the first player to reach Harry. It was clear that he needed to be taken to the hospital wing, and so Fred and Oliver took it upon themselves to scoop Harry up and bring him straight to Madame Pomfrey. I followed behind them accompanied by George Weasley and the rest of the Gryffindor team.

Several hours later I sat by Harry's bedside. _He could wake up at any minute, Madame Pomfrey had said. He's going to be fine. _I reassured myself. On the other side of Harry's bed sat Hermione and Ron. Fred and George continued to pace back and forth debating Gryffindor's chances of still winning the cup after their loss.

"So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw, and we beat Ravenclaw _and_ Slytherin…" Fred was saying.

"But if they beat Ravenclaw…" George interjected.

"No way Ravenclaws are too good. But If Slytherin loses to Hufflepuff…" Fred added, as they both cast a glance in my direction.

"Not gunna happen boys." I responded confidently.

"It all depends on the points. It has to be a margin of a hundred either way." Ron said, launching Fred and George into more heavy calculations. I turned my attention back to harry, I was about to suggest to Hermione that we turn in for the night, when Harry's eyes began to flutter open.

"Harry!" I exclaimed smothering him.

"What…What happened?" He said sitting up slowly.

"You fell off you're broom. Must've been—what, fifty feet?" Ron told him.

"We'd thought you'd die." Hermione interjected. _Well I wouldn't have told him that, but hey you're his friends. _

"But the match, are we going to have a replay?" In that moment apparently none of us had the courage to tell Harry that the Gryffindors had in fact lost.

"We didn't _lose_ did we?"

"Diggory got the snitch." George said. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened, when he looked back and saw you on the ground; he tried to call it off. He wanted a re-match but they won fair and square."

"We'll come see you later, don't beat yourself up Harry, you're still the best seeker we've ever had." Fred said as he and George made their way to the door.

"Dumbledore was really angry." Hermione told us. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran out to the pitch as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down. Then he turned his wand on the dementors, shot some silvery stuff, which made them leave the stadium right away."

"Did someone get my Nimbus?" Harry asked us desperately.

"Well when you fell off, it got blown away." I said hoping he would be satisfied with this answer, but in typical Potter fashion, he couldn't just leave well enough alone.

"And_?" _

"And it hit the whompping willow." I elaborated.

"_And_?"

"And, well you know the Whompping Willow…It doesn't like being hit." The three of us exchanged a worried look before Ron reached for the bag at his feet, and turned it upside-down over the bed. Dozens of bits of wood scattered the bedspread.

"I'm sorry." I said truly sympathizing with him, it was like saying goodbye to a dear friend.


	12. Chapter 12

"If Snape's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, I'm going to be sick." Harry told us Monday on the way to class.

"Well at least you'd have an excuse." I said to him taking my seat beside Emily.

"With my luck, he'd probably say something like, _ , damage to internal organs is no excuse for leaving class. If you are still breathing you will remain seated in this classroom._" He said in a rather close impersonation of Severus. From my pocket I removed a piece of parchment that to anyone else would have looked simply old.

**Who is teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts today?** I scribbled, bouncing my foot anxiously as I waited for Severus to reply.

_Your Uncle I suppose. Unless teaching is now beneath him. _I rolled my eyes.

**You two are still fighting then? I thought you were going to work on that. See you at today's potions lesson. **

"Harry, I don't think Professor Snape will be teaching this lesson. Sure enough Remus came staggering through the classroom door looking as battle-scarred as ever.

"Wow Alice, you should really be in divinations class, you always seemed to know what's going to happen before it does." Emily said to me. _Em, can't we get through a lesson without you bringing up that absurd class? _ I thought to myself as the rest of the class began to complain to Remus about Severus' werewolf Essay.

"It's not fair! He was only filling in, why should he give us homework?" Draco asked.

"We don't even know anything about werewolves!" Ron interjected.

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Remus asked as if we hadn't already thought of that.

"Yes, but he wouldn't listen." Hermione informed him. "Professor Snape just kept saying that we're really behind.

"Don't worry, I'll speak with Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh NO! I've already finished it!" Hermione exclaimed. _I'll bet my weight in galleons I'll still have to write mine. _The rest of the period was spent discussing Hinkpunks and their natural habitats. When the bell rang everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door.

"Wait a moment Harry, I'd like a word." Remus called. _Harry? You haven't spoken to me all year, and the person you want to talk to after the full moon is Harry?_ I stormed out of the classroom consumed by my own thoughts, not even bothering to look where I was going, or who was around me. So it was my fault that I walked headlong into someone as I rounded a corner trying to get as far away from the Defense against the Dark Arts Classroom as possible. I heard the shattering glass against the stone floor first. Then I saw a pair of oh too familiar black shoes.

"Miss Potter, you have caused me to drop an incredibly complicated elixir that will now take several hours to recreate."

"I'm sorry Sev—Professor Snape." I corrected. "I was my fault, I was not paying attention to where I was walking, and I was deep in thought."

"Yes well you'll have plenty of time to think tonight, in detention." I didn't even bother arguing with him at this point. Detention was sometimes Serverus' excuse for talking to me privately. Whether or not he actually intended to punish me for the broken elixir I had no idea of knowing.

"Yes sir." I walked onward trying to avoid any further collisions. I wanted to ask Harry what it was Remus wanted to talk to him about, but I never got the chance during any of the lessons. By dinner time I was less concerned with Harry, and focusing on my impeding detention with Severus.

"Are you alright Alice? You have barley eaten any food." Emily asked me with a worried look in her eyes.

"Yeah, I have detention with Professor Snape after dinner. I accidentally ran into him in the hallway and ruined a potion of his. Needless to say I have to spend my free time tonight re-brewing an apparently complex potion."

"Well at least you like potions so it will be sort of fun right?" She said trying to be encouraging.

"Let's hope so." I answered. I was shivering as I made my way down to Severus' office.

"Good Evening Professor." I said with a smile hoping to ease whatever anger was about to burst from him. But when I looked at his face, he showed nothing but calmness.

"Follow me Allison." I followed him through the door behind his desk into his personal chambers. I sat at the table nestled inside his kitchenette. He handed me a large mug of hot coco, and sat across from me with a tea in his other hand. "I wanted to talk to you, about your brother's incident on the quidditch field this past weekend."

"I know, It's not an excuse not to do my werewolf essay. Don't worry, I worked on it every day so I would have it done." I said handing him a bundle of scrolls. "All four scrolls _professor._" Well truthfully I had only done the essay that day _after_ I ran into him in the hallway. I had figured he was already mad at me and it was best not to pick at the wound.

"Though I am impressed with your dedication to the assignment, that was not what I wanted to talk to you about." He paused sipping his tea and calculating his next response. "Dementors, are among the darkest creatures that exist in our world. They survive off of darkness, living in the filthiest places, draining peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them. Even muggles can sense their presense, though they can't see them. Get too near a dementor, and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, a dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself—soulless, and evil. You'll be left will nothing but the worst experiences of your life." A cold shiver tingled down my spine as what Severus had said began to sink in.

"If dementors bring out our worst memories…the screaming…the screaming that Harry and I hear when the dementors are around…is that…" I paused not sure if I could say the words aloud. "Is that Voldemort killing my mother? Are those _her_ screams?"

"It is a possibility." He responded placing his teacup on the table. "I have spoken with Professor Dumbledore and Remus on this matter. We believe the demontors are getting…hungry. Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up. They could not resist the large crowd around the quidditch pitch. All that excitement and emotions running, it was their idea of a feast."

"So you're Speaking to Remus again?" I asked hopefully but he just sighed.

"Did you hear anything else that I said?" He asked shaking his head.

"Yes. The Dementors are hungry, they are hungry for human emotion, and the quidditch games are like the Halloween feast. See I can think two things at ones."

"Or you just have a very good surface memory." He answered disapprovingly. "Now, back on topic please. There is a defensive spell that one can use to defend against dementors. It is a rather advanced bit of magic, but Professor Dumbledore feels that your brother and you have a particular sensitivity to the dementors, and it may be beneficial for the two of you to learn this skill."

"When can we start?" I asked.

"After Christmas break, at the start of next term."

"But its October, the start of next term is like forever from now!" I whined.

"It's the _end_ of October Alice, it's honestly not _that_ long. You can be so dramatic sometimes." He said.


	13. Chapter 13

_Harry_

"If Snape's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, I'm going to be sick." I said as Ron and I sat behind Alice and Emily.

"Well at least you'd have and excuse." Alice said to me tossing her bag to the ground and sitting beside her best friend. I laughed.

"With my luck, he'd probably say something like '_Damage to internal organs is no excuse for leaving class Mr. Potter. If you are still breathing you will remain seated in this classroom." _I had to admit it was scary how close I had gotten to Snape's voice. Alice removed a piece of parchment from the pocket of her robes and scribbled away at it. She was always doing that, and Ron and I never quite figured out what she was doing. We had tried to read over her shoulders once, but when we did, there was nothing there, as if she was writing with vanishing ink. After a few seconds she turned around to face Ron and me.

"Harry, I don't think Professor Snape will be teaching this lesson." Within seconds Professor Lupin came staggering through the classroom door looking tiered.

"Wow Alice! You should really be in divinations class, you _always_ seem to know what's going to happen before it does!" Emily said in astonishment. I liked Emily she was very sweet, but sometimes she was real naïve. Did she _actually _believe in divinations? And how did she not notice Alice's bazar piece of parchment? Within minutes of Professor Lupin walking into class, everyone began to complain about Professor Snape's werewolf essay.

"We really should have done that essay mate." Ron whispered to me.

"It's not fair! He was only filling in, why should he give us homework?" Malfoy asked.

"We don't even know anything about werewolves!" Ron interjected.

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Remus asked as if we hadn't already thought of that.

"Yes, but he wouldn't listen." Hermione informed him. "Professor Snape just kept saying that we're really behind.

"Don't worry, I'll speak with Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh NO! I've already finished it!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I don't think Lupin'll be able to convince Snape about it anyway." Ron whispered to her. We spent the lesson studying a live hinkypunk, and discussed its actions in the classroom compared to a natural setting. When the bell rang everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door.

"Wait a moment Harry, I'd like a word." Professor Lupin called from the back of the classroom.

"I heard about the match." Was all he said.

"Did you hear about the dementors too?" I asked.

"Yes I did. I don't think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing restless for some time…furious at his refusal to let him inside the grounds…I suppose they were the reason you feel."

"Yeah." I said looking down at the ground, "Why do they affect me like that? Am I just…"

"It has nothing to do with weakness." He told me. "The dementors affect you and your sister worse than the other because there are horrors in yours pasts that others don't have. Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They drain all the happiness out of the air, even muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a dementor, and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, a dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself—soulless, and evil. You'll be left will nothing but the worst experiences of your life. Harry it's enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of."

"When they come near me…" I pause choosing my next words carefully. "I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum. Why did they have to come to the match?"

"We believe, that is to say, Professor Dumbledore and I, we believe the demontors are getting…hungry. Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up. They could not resist the large crowd around the quidditch pitch. All that excitement and emotions running, it was their idea of a feast."

"Azkaban must be terrible." I say taking him off guard. He nodded solemnly.

"The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don't need walls and water to keep prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most of them go mad within weeks." That made me thing of Sirius. He had been trapped in Azkaban for months before his escape.

"But Sirius escaped from them, he got away…" An awkward silence past between the two of us, both absorbed in thought.

"yes. Sirius has seemed to have done something impossible. I certainly didn't believe him capable of it. Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long. " He thought out loud.

"_You_ made that Dementor on the train back off." I remembered, but Professor Lupin shook his head.

"Remember, when a wizard is admitted to Azkaban, their wand is broken. There is a defensive spell that will…hold off dementors for some time."

"Can you teach me?"

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore has agreed to allow me to teach you the Patronus Charm which will keep hungry dementors at bay. These lessons will begin after the start of the next term."

"Thank you Professor!" I left the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom feeling much better about the promise of anti-dementor lessons.

"Just the man we were looking for!" a voice called from behind me. I turned to see Fred and George standing shoulder to shoulder with matching mischievous grins. Together they pulled me into an empty classroom and cast some sort of charm on the door. Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on the nearest desk. It was a large square very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it.

"What's this supposed to be?" I asked.

"This Harry, is the secret to our success." George said patting the parchment fondly.

"It's a wretch to give it to you." Fred Said. "But we've decided last night, that your needs are greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it by heart. We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore." George said.

"And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?" I questioned.

"A bit of old parchment?" Fred repeated looking as though I had insulted him. "Explain George."

"Well When we were in our first year Harry, we were young, carefree, and innocent…" I snorted doubting that Fred and George had ever been innocent.

"Well more innocent then we are now…We got into trouble with Filch."

"We let off a dungbomb in the corridor and started threatening us with the usual…"

"Detention,"

"Dismemberment…"

"And we couldn't help but noticing a drawer in one of his filling cabinets marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."_

"Don't tell me…" I said grinning.

"Well what would you have done? George caused a diversion by dropping another dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and got this."

"It's not as bad as it sounds you know, We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"You're winding me up!" I thought out loud staring at the parchment. But then I thought of Alice's strange parchment, and Tom Riddles diary from last year.

"Oh are we?" George said. He took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly and said, "I solemnly swear, that I am up to no good." And at once thin ink lines began to spread like a spider web from the point that George had touched. They joined each other, they cross-crossed, they fanned out into every corner of the parchment; then words began to bloom across the top, large curly green words that read: "Messrs Moony, Woormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Michief-Makers are proud to present, The Marauder's Map. It was a map showing every detail of Hogwarts and the grounds, but the truly remarkable thing, was the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in tiny writing. A labeled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing in his study; Mrs. Norris was prowling the first floor, and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room. I scanned the map over several times, when I noticed the map showed many places I had never seen before. There were sets of secret passages, many of which seemed to lead—

"Right into Hogsmead." Fred said tracing one of them with his finger. "There are seven in all. Now Filch knows about these four…But we're sure only we know about these…Don't bother using the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used to use it until last winter, but it's caved in, completely blocked. And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the whomping willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one eyed witch's hump." Fred finished. _This is Brilliant._ It meant that I wouldn't have to miss out on the Hogsmead trip after all!

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." George sighed. "We own them so much.

"Nobel men working tirelessly to help a new generation of law breakers." Fred added.

"Right, don't forget to wipe it after you've used it."

"Otherwise anyone could read it." Fred added warningly.

"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief Managed!' and it'll go blank." George instructed.

"So young Harry" Fred began in an impersonation of his older brother Percy "Mind you behave yourself."

"See you at Honeydukes Harry!" George said with a wink as the two left the classroom.


	14. Chapter 14

_Alice_

It was the morning of the Hogsmeade trip and Emily could barely contain herself. She had been bouncing on her heels all morning waiting for me to wake and dress.

"Come one Alice we don't want to miss the carriages." She said racing up the steps from the dungeons.

"Em, there are carriages run all day between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, if we miss one, there'll be plenty of others." I said with a yawn. "They don't expect everyone to get up with the sun."

"But aren't you the least bit excited about what it will be like?"

"I suppose it will look just like Diagon Alley, but with more homes." I told her as we entered to entrance hall.

"But we get to go _without_ adults, so it will be nothing like a trip to Diagon Alley." She told me matter of factly. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the Professors would be scattered throughout Hogsmeade supervising the students, and there would probably be dementors this year too. We rounded the corner to see that there was a very short line waiting for carriages. At the back of the line stood Hermione and Ron.

"Hi you two!" I said I we approached.

"Oh hello Alice. I thought you'd be staying here with Harry." Hermione said.

"Well I thought about it, and I couldn't let Emily go bounding around Hogsmeade without me."

"But doesn't that mean Harry will be here alone?" Emily asked in a worried voice.

"I spoke to him last night, and I did ask if he minded me going, but he said he had some things he needed to do today." I told them.

"That's what he told me!" Ron said. "I asked him before I left, what he planned on doing all day, and all he said was that he had _things_ to do."

"It's not like him to keep secrets from us." I said still wrapped in thought about what Harry could possibly be planning.

"Come on you three, there's an open Carriage!" Emily called as she pulled me by the arm towards the carriage. Ron and Hermione followed and climbed in the carriage with us. The carriage advanced, before giving a sudden lurch halting once again. "What's wrong with the carriage?" Emily asked as if she would burst into tears.

"Room for two more?" Came the voice of Fred Weasley as he and George climbed into the carriage.

"What are you two up to?" Ron asked.

"It's not us that's up to something." Fred said.

"But we wouldn't want to miss it." George added.

"What are you two going on about?" I asked.

"Can't say."

"Won't Say." They answered using their hands to motion locking their mouths and throwing away keys.

"And just how many school rules will you be breaking?" Hermione asked as the carriage began to move towards Hogsmeade once again.

"Hermione we're hurt! What makes you think we're not just going to Hogsmeade for a day of fun like you lot? What makes you think it's going to involve rule breaking?" George asked feigning innocence.

"Because we all know you both too well." Ron answered. When we finally arrived at Hogsmeade I had to admit it was impressive.

"Well where to first?" Emily asked bouncing on her heels again.

"Honeydukes." The three Weasleys answered. I narrowed my eyes at the twins.

"Now I understand why Ron wants to go to there, he loves anything to do with food."

"Do not." Ron mumbled.

"Shut up Ron." Hermione said.

"What I don't understand," I continued "Is why would Hogwarts' two most notorious pranksters want to stop off at Honeydukes sweets, rather than Zonkos joke shop?" I asked eyeing them suspiciously.

"Well I don't know about most _notorious_ but thank you for the compliment." Fried said with a nod. "Now third years, this way to Honeydukes." He added in his best impersonation of Hagrid, as he marched forward not bothering to look behind to see if we were following.

"Well if not for anything, at least we'll get a good laugh." Ron said shrugging his shoulders and following his brothers.

"Or Expelled." Hermione added after him.

"When in Rome." Emily said cheerily following behind the others. I had no choice but to join the rest of the group.

"Hey! Wait up Fred!" I called running after them.

"Knew you'd come around!" The twins said with a smirk. _Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret this?_ Despite the early time of day, Hogsmeade was already crowded with students trying to purchase the unique Honeydukes sweets. There were shelves upon shelves of the most delicious looking candies imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink square of coconut ice, honey-colored toffees, hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows, a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another if Fizzing Whizbees, levitating sherbert balls, more things that I could even name!

"Maybe we should bring Harry back some things?" Emily asked. I felt a little guilty, there I was thinking of all the great sweets I couldn't wait to waist my Galleons on, and here was Emily thinking about Harry who was all alone at back at the castle.

"How about these!" Ron said pointing to a barrel of blood-filled lollypops.

"Ugh no, Harry wouldn't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect." Hermione told him.

"How about these?" Emily asked holding up a package of "Ice Mice."

"'Hear your teeth chatter and squeak' I don't think Harry would like those." I said to Emily.

"How about these." Fred asked holding up a jar of Cockroach Clusters.

"Definitely not!" Said a voice behind us. A squeak came from somewhere in Emily's direction, as she jumped up like a cat taken by surprise. Hiding between a few shelves of candy, half covered in his invisibility cloak stood Harry.

"Harry!" Hermione said in a disapproving tone.

"What are you doing here? How did you..." I was at a loss for words.

"Wow! You've learned to apparate!" Ron exclaimed.

"Course I haven't!" Harry said shaking his head. He lowered his voice to a whisper and explained to us about the Maurder's Map.

"How come you two never gave that map to me? I'm your brother!" Ron asked Fred and George. The twins exchanged a look before backing towards the door.

"Well our business here is done! See you all back at the castle!" George called out over his shoulder as they exited the shop.

"Harry, put your cloak back on! If one of the Professors sees you, you're dead!" With a regretful look Harry tossed the invisibility cloak back over his shoulders.

"Harry you're not honestly going to keep that map are you? You're going to turn it into Professor McGonagall aren't you?" She asked as we browsed the shelves.

"No I will not! Are you mad? Handing in something like this." He whispered still undercover of the cloak.

"But what about Sirius, he could be using one if those passages to get into the castle!"

"He can't be getting in through a passage, there are seven secret tunnels on the map right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And the other three, one of them's caved in, one's got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, and the one I just came through, well it's really hard to see the entrance down in the cellar so unless he knew it was there…" We made our way to the checkout and Ron pointed out a note taped to the register.

**By Order of The Ministry Of Magic**

_Customers are reminded that until further notice. Dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety of Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping before nightfall. _

"See, even if Sirius is trying something, I'd like to see him try and break into Honeydukes with dementors swarming all over the village. Anyway the owners would have heard a break-in, they _live_ over the shop."

"Let's Pay for our sweets and then we'll all go the The Three Broomsticks." I told the invisible Harry. When we exited the shop I held the door for a prolonged period of time. "Harry…" I whispered.

"Behind you." He whispered in my ear causing me to jump.


	15. Chapter 15

Harry and I spent the next few months going to class by day, and exploring the secret parts of the castle by night. Sometimes Ron or Emily would come with us, nearly every time Hermione insisted we turn the map in. When Christmas break arrived I told Severus and Remus that I wanted to stay at the castle with Harry so that he wouldn't be alone. In truth I think it didn't bother Harry to be alone as much as the things the other students said about Sirius bothered him. It became easier to sneak around the castle at night when most of the students and professors were gone on holiday. The decrease in students around the holiday meant that the remaining students were free to sit at any of the house tables during meals. Emily and I never missed the opportunity to sit with Gryffindors, so much that many of the Gryffindors wondered when we would make the change to Gryffindor permanent.

"I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't mind." Ginny suggested again one night at dinner.

"Ginny we're not transferring toGryffindor. There's a reason why we're there, and I'm sure we'll find out someday. Besides, who wants to be in the same house as Harry Potter?" I asked dropping my voice to a whisper. "I hear his guardian tried kills his parents. How weird is that?"

"Alright you too give it a rest! We've got more important matters to discuss." Hermione said interrupting us as usual. "Hagrid received his letter from the school governors today."

"How do you know?" Ron asked his mouth half full of food.

"Ronald honestly, your table manners are horrible. And use your brain for five minutes. He hasn't been to any meals all day. Something's wrong."

"But how do you know that's what it is?" Harry asked.

"Well because…well what else would it be?" She asked flustered. More than to diffuse tension than anything I popped in with a suggestion.

"Well there's a reason why Hagrid hasn't been to any meals, whether it's the school governors or something else, and we're his friends, so we should be there for him right?" I asked.

Well yeah but…"

"No buts Harry. You guys are his friends, you should go."

"Emily I think you should come with us, you're so great at comforting people, I think you should come with me. To you know, help out." I suggested hoping she'd come with me so things wouldn't be so awkward.

"Uh no that's ok Alice, I think, well we're not really supposed to be out of the castle so, so I'll stay here and…and keep an eye on things…make sure the professors don't go looking for you guys."

"Wow that's a great idea Emily!" Ron said not realizing that she was just trying to get out of going to Hagrid's. So I played along.

"Gee thanks Emily!" I said out loud. "traitor." I whispered soft enough for only her to hear.

"Sorry." She whispered back. After dinner we said goodnight to Emily and made our way to Hagrid's hut.

"There's a weird noise." Harry said. "Listen is that Fang?" The four of us gently put our ears to the door of Hagrid's cabin.

"I think…I think Hagrid's crying." Hermione answered.

"Should we leave?" Ron asked.

"Well we came all this way…someone should know shouldn't they?" I asked. The three of us looked to Harry.

"Alright." He responded with a sigh. Soon there was the sound of heavy footsteps, then the door creaked open. Hagrid stood there with his eyes red and swollen; tears slashing down the front of his leather vest.

"Yeh've heard?" he bellowed, and he flung himself onto Harry's neck. Hagrid being at least twice the size of a normal man, that was no laughing matter. Harry who was about to collapse under Hagrid's weight, was rescued by Ron, Harry, and I, as we heaved him back into the cabin. Hagrid allowed himself to be steered into a chair and slumped over the table, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hagrid what is it?" Hermione finally asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an official-looking letter lying open on the table.

"What's this?" I asked reaching for the letter. Hagrid's sobs grew stronger, but he shoved the letter in my direction anyway.

_Dear Mr. Hagrid, _

_Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident._

"Well that's okay then Hagrid!" Ron said clapping him on the shoulder.

"Ron, there's more." I said reading on.

_However, we must register our concern about the hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take place April 20__th__ and we ask you to present yourself and your hippogriff at the Committee's offices in London on that date. In the meantime, the hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated. Yours in fellowship…_

"And the rest is just a list of the school governors' signatures." I said looking up from the letter.

"Oh." Ron said retracting his earlier statement, "But you said Buckbeak isn't a bad Hippogriff Hagrid. I bet he'll get off." For the first time Hagrid looked up at us.

"Yeh don' know them gargoyles at the committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures!" choked Hagrid, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "They've got it in fer interestin' creatures!" There was a sudden sound from the back corner of the hut causing all of us to whip around searching for its source. Buckbeak the hippogriff was lying in the corner, chomping on something that was oozing blood all over the floor. I turned to Hagrid with my stomach turning.

"I couldn't leave him tied up out there in the snow!" choked Hagrid. "All on his own? At Christmas!" He coughed looking as though he may burst again. Again the four of us exchanged a look. None of us had ever been quite able to see eye to eye with what Hagrid called "interesting creatures," to us they seemed much more like "Terrifying monsters." In fact by Hagrid's usual standards, Buckbeak was pretty cute.

You'll have to put on a strong defense, Hagrid." Hermione said laying a comforting hand on Hagrid's massive forearm. "I'm sure you can prove Buckbeak is safe."

"Won't make no difference!" Sobbed Hagrid. "Them disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket! Scared o' him! An' if I lose the case, Buckbeak…" His voice trailed off, but he drew a finger swiftly across his throat, he paused for a few seconds frozen, and then heaved over with a great wail, weeping again into his hands.

"What about Dumbledore Hagrid?" Harry asked calmly.

"He's done more'n enough fer me already." Groaned Hagrid. "Got enough on his plate what with keepin' them dementors outta the castle, an' Sirius Black lurkin' around…" again his voice trailed off in thought. A few beats of awkward silence past between us, I tried to break the tention.

"Listen Hagrid, you can't give up. Hermione's right, you just need a good defense. You can call us as witnesses."

"I'm sure I've read about a case of Hippogriff-baiting," Hermione added thoughtfully. "Where the Hippogriff got off. I'll look it up for you Hagrid, and see exactly what happened." Hagrid sobbed through all of this, most likely not hearing us at all.

"Er-Maybe a cup of tea? It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset." Ron suggested shrugging. At last with many more assurances of help, with a steaming mug of tea in front of him, we were finally able to bring Hagrid back.

"Yer right. I can't afford to go ter pieces. Gotta pull meself together." Fang the boarhound came timidly out from out from under the table and laid his head on Hagrid's knee. "I've not bin meself lately, worried about Buckbeak and no one likin' my classes…"

"We do like them!" We chorus in a lie.

"Yeah they're…great…Er how are the Flobberworms?" Ron asked crossing his figners under the table.

"Dead." Hagrid added gloomily. "Too much lettuce."

"Oh no!" Ron said.

"An' them Dementors make me feel ruddy terrible an' all." Hagrid continued with a shudder. "Gotta walk past 'em ev're time I want a drink in the Three Broomsticks. 's like bein' back in Azkaban." He fell silent, gulping his tea. There was nothing the four of us could be but watch breathlessly. Hagrid never talked of his brief time in Azkaban and none of us had ever cared to ask.

"Is it awful in there, Hagrid?" Harry asked. I don't know about the others, but I know that in that moment all Harry and I were thinking of was Sirius.

"Yeh've no idea." Hagrid said. I reached under the table for Harry's hand, giving him a comforting squeeze. "Never been anywhere like it. Thought I was goin' mad. Kep' goin' over horrible stuff in me mind…the day I got expelled from Hogwarts…The day me Dad died…day I had to let Norbert go…" His eyes filled with tears. "Yeh can' really remember who yeh are after a while. An' yeh can't see the point o' living at all. I used ter hope I'd just die in me sleep…when they let me out, it was like bein' born again. Ev'rythin' came floodin' back, it was the bes' feelin' in the world. Mind the Dementors weren't keen on lettn' me go." He ended with a snort.

"But you were innocent." Ron interjected.

"They don't care." I said plainly. "They need happiness to survive, as long as they have people to leech all of the happiness out of them, they don't care who's guilty or not." Everyone was silent then.

"I've thought of letting Buckbeak go…tryin' ter make him fly away…but how d'yeh explain ter a Hippogriff it's gotta go inter hidin'? An' an' I'm scared o' breakin' the law." He looked up at us, silent tears falling from his eyes. "I don' ever want ter go back ter Azkaban."


	16. Chapter 16

The trip from Hagrid's was miserable to say the least, but it did give Harry something to focus on besides Sirius. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Emily and I went to the library the next day, and spent most of the morning searching through books that might help prepare a defense for Buckbeak. We mostly sat in silence, but on occasion someone would read out bits of relevant information. We left the library late that afternoon to discover the usual magnificent Christmas decorations had been put up. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe were strung along the corridors, mysterious, light shown from inside every suit of armor and the Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas trees.

Christmas morning finally arrived and Emily was bouncing around with joy. She skidded to a halt when she saw Draco sitting in an armchair by the fireplace.

"Oh, good morning Draco." She said her voice still cheery.

"Hello Emily, and Allison. How have your holidays been so far?" He asked as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary.

"Fine." I replied shortly. "I thought you were at home for the holiday."

"Well, Father had some out of the country business to attend to, and Mother is traveling, so I gladly to returned to Hogwarts for the remainder of the holiday."

"Oh. Well how lucky for all of us." I said rolling my eyes. It had been months since either of us had spoken to each other. We weren't exactly "not friends" but there was no way we could be considered best friends anymore but it was Christmas after all. With all the kindness I could muster that early in the morning I smiled. "Merry Christmas Malfoy."

"Merry Christmas to you too Potter."

"Presents!" Emily squealed sitting under the large tree in our common room. She played the role of a dutiful elf passing presents around between the three of us as we sat by the fire opening the gifts. There was a late lunch on Christmas day, so I had enough time to slip away to Severus' office while the rest of the Slytherins woke and unwrapped their presents. I knocked gently on the office door, knowing Severus would be awake by now. Within seconds the door glided open in one fluent motion and Severus appeared, dressed for the day, his usual scowl branded upon his face.

"Good morning Miss Potter."

"Good Morning Professor Snape. I just thought that I would tell you Merry Christmas!" I said with a smile.

"Your present is in my chambers." He said in a low whisper, swinging the door so that I could move past him. I followed him to his private sitting room, where sat two warm mugs of hot chocolate and a roaring fire.

"Were you expecting someone Professor?" I asked sitting in his favorite armchair.

"Oh Allison how I've missed your joyful sense of humor." He added dryly as he handed one of the mugs. I sipped slowly expecting it to be warmer than it was. _He's been up for a while. _"About your present Allison." He said looking down at me from the top of his crooked nose." "Due to the dog's inconvenient rejection from society, your godfather and I have decided to give you and your brother each only one present. Yours shall come from me, tour brothers from Remus." He paused as if expecting me to explode.

"Sev, I'm not five years old anymore, Christmas isn't about how many presents I get. And if only getting one present means that Harry gets at least one, I'm ok with that." I reassured him. "What I'd _really_ want for Christmas would be for you and Remus to stop fighting." At this his face changed from gently Severus, to Potions Professor.

"There is nothing going on between Remus and I." he replied sternly.

"It's Christmas! You're lying to me on Christmas, a new low for you Professor Snape." He placed his mug back on the table and began to walk away. "Wait I didn't mean it!" I said jumping up.

"Do you want your present or not?" He asked plainly over his shoulder.

"Yes please." I answered in a low tone.

"Then sit back down and close your eyes." I followed his instructions patiently. I heard the rustling of paper and steady footprints approach, before he placed a long object in my lap. I opened my eyes to see a long thin object wrapped in brown paper tied up with a green and black bow. There was a small silver tag scrawled with his handwriting. _To Alice-Lily from Severus Snape_. "Try not to fly it into a tree like your brother did." He said allowing himself a low chuckle. I removed the paper to find a shining new Firebolt broomstick.

"Thank you Severus!" I said jumping up and throwing my arms around his neck.

"Merry Christmas Alice-Lily. Now I believe we both have a Christmas lunch to attend. Clean up your papers, and let's head down to lunch."

"Yes Professor." I said with a smile. I headed off to the Great Hall broomstick in hand. My brother, Emily Ron and Hermione were all standing in the Entrance Hall all apparently waiting for me.

"I see you've got a broomstick from Lupin as well." Ron said as I approached them.

"Yeah." I replied hoping none of them noticed that I had just come from the Dungeons instead of Remus' office. "Are you excited to have a broomstick again?" I asked Harry.

"I've been itching to get back on a broom. I might go flying after lunch." He replied.

"Merry Christmas!" Professor Dumbledore called out as we entered. Only then did I realize how few of us there were left at the school. In a round table set for twelve sat Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Severus. Across from them sat only me, Harry, our four friends, and two first year Hufflepuffs. "As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the house tables, sit down, sit down." Emily moved to sit next to Draco and the rest of us followed her lead, talking seats around the table.

"Crackers!" Professor Dumbledore Exclaimed as if he'd only just noticed them. After shuffling through a large pile, he found a large silver one and offered an end to Severus. Severus reluctantly took it and tugged gently. The cracker flew apart to reveal a large, pointed witch's hat topped with a stuffed vulture. All of us third year students remembered the Boggart from Defense Against the Dark Arts, and unsuccessfully tried to stifle our laughter. Severus' lips thinned to a disapproving scowl as he pushed the hat towards Dumbledore, who swapped it for his wizard's hat at once. The rest of us were invited to open crackers while we waited for the food to appear. Soon food appeared and all of us were laughing and joking. Just as Harry was reaching to get himself a serving of potatoes, the doors of the Great Hall flung open.

"Another troll in the dungeon?" Ron asked from underneath his goblet. It was Professor Trelawney, gliding towards us. She had on a green sequined dress, combining that with her large glasses she looked like a glittering dragonfly.

"Sybil, this is a pleasant surprise!" said Professor Dumbledore standing up.

"I have been crystal-gazing Headmaster." Said Professor Trelawney, in her mistiest, most faraway voice. "And to my astonishment, I saw myself abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to forgive my lateness."

"Certainly, Certainly." Said Dumbledore his eyes twinkling. "Let me draw you up a chair." With that he conjured up a chair for her. Professor Trelawney however, did not sit down: her enormous eyes had been roving around the table and she suddenly uttered a soft scream.

"Does she do that a lot?" I whispered to Emily.

"Yes." Replied bother her and Hermione.

"I dare not Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die."

"We'll risk it Sybil." Said Professor McGonagall impatiently, "Do sit down, the turkey's getting stone cold." Professor Trelawney hesitated, then lowered herself into the empty chair, eyes shut and mouth clenched tight, as though she was expecting a thunderbolt to hit the table.

"Tripe Sybil?" Professor McGonagall asked her. Professor Trelawney ignored her. Eyes open again, she looked around once more and said,

"But where is dear Professor Lupin?"

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again. Most unfortunate that it should happen on Christmas day."

"But surely you already knew that Sybil?" Professor McGonagall asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Certainly I knew Minerva." She replied quietly. " But one does not parade the fact that one is All-Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.

"That explains a great deal." Replied Professor McGonagall tartly. Professor Trelawney's voice suddenly became a good deal less misty.

"If you must know, Minerva, I have seen that poor Professor Lupin will not be with us for a very long. He seems aware himself that time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him.

"Imagine that." Professor McGonagall inserted drily.

"I doubt," Said Professor Dumbledore, in a cheerful but slightly raised voice, which put an end to Professor McGonagall and Professor Trelawney's conversation, "That Professor Lupin is in any immediate danger. Severus you've made the potion for him again?" _So is the werewolf thing not a secret anymore? _I thought to myself.

"Yes Headmaster." Replied Severus.

"Good then he should be up and about in no time. , have you had any of these chipolatas? They're excellent." Dumbledore asked changing the subject. Professor Trelawney behaved almost normally until the very end of Christmas dinner, two hours later. Together Ron and Harry got up first from the table.

"My dears! Which of you left his seat first? Which?" She had asked in a panicked tone.

"Dunno." Ron answered as he looked uneasily at Harry.

"I doubt it will make a difference." Professor McGonagall said. "Unless a mad axe-murder is waiting outside the doors to slaughter the first into the Entrance Hall."


	17. Chapter 17

Lessons started the week after Christmas Day Which for Harry and I meant our anti-dementor lessons could begin. It was eight o'clock the night of our first Friday back when I snuck my way down to Severus' office. I knocked lightly on his door before allowing myself in.

"Good evening Allison."

"Good evening Professor Snape." I answered taking in the room. His desk and chairs had been pushed against the walls, or rather the shelves lined with potions and jars that acted as walls. In their place a large jumbling crate clanged along the floor. "What is that?" I asked pointing to the crate.

"A Boggart. I believe you're familiar with the concept." He answered. "The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when it sees you, so you'll be able to practice on him. It is a safe alternative to a real Dementor. Plus I can store it in my office when we're not using it."

"Alright." I said my voice a little shaky.

"The spell I'm going to teach you is highly advanced magic. Well beyond the skills of an average third year. Of course, you yourself are above average for a third year student."

"Well Professor Snape, I'm shocked that sounded like a compliment."

"Don't let it go to your head young lady." He said in his Professor voice. "The spell is called the _Patronus Charm._ When it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus, which is sort of an Anti-Dementor, a guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor." He paused making sure I was paying attention. Though my eyes had no moved from the shuddering box, I was still listening intently to his words. "The Patronus is a positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon; hope, happiness, the desire to survive, But it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it." He then rearranged his face again to the Severus that only I knew in private. "I should warn you Allison, this charm may be too advanced for you. Many more qualified wizards have difficulty with it. I don't want you to feel disappointed if you cannot do it."

"Well I understand it's going to be hard, but you said it yourself, I'm not the average third year! What does the Patronus look like anyway?"

"Each one is unique to the witch or wizard who conjures it." With that he was back to Professor Snape, dictating information to his student. "The Patronus is cast with an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single happy memory." I had quite a few happy memories, I decided to start with the day I found out I was going to Hogwarts.

"I've got it." I told him.

"The incantation is Expecto Patronum. You must concentrate hard on your happy memory and speak the incantation. Are you ready?" I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and concentrated on the memory.

"Expecto Patrono, no no its Patronum ." Concentrating on the memory and the spell was a lot harder than I thought. "Sorry, one more time. Expecto Patronum!" Out of the end of my wand whooshed a wisp of silvery gas. I began bouncing up and down on my heels feeling a bit like Emily. "I did it!"

"You've managed to conjure a very weak form of the Patronus Charm yes." With that he flipped the hasp on the crate and allowed the Boggart to escape. Instinctively my hand clasped tighter around my wand. I tried to focus on Hogwarts, and being with Severus, and Remus and Emily, and I tried to focus. A dementor rose slowly from the box, Its hooded face towered over me while its scabbed hands gripped at its cloak. Soon the lamps around the classroom flickered off. I was losing my focus and a blanket of piercing cold broke around me. It seemed the harder I tried to focus, the colder the room became.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Nothing but more cold. "Expecto…expect.." But it was no use, My breaths were growing shorter, my head was filled with a deep haze, and then _her_ voice, my mothers voice screaming.

"NO! Not the Children! Not Harry! Not Alice! Please…Please I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, Stand aside girl!" More screams and a flash of green light, and then everything was lost.

"Alice…Allison? ALLISON!" I felt my body jerk as I opened my eyes. Sitting up slowly, I grasped my head, still swimming in another reality. The lights had been lit again, and the Boggart was back inside its crate. I starred at the tips of my shoes too ashamed to look at Severus' face. I had failed, and I was disappointed enough for the two of us. The last thing I wanted was to see it on his face too.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to him.

"Apology not necessary. Are you alright?" Still holding my forehead, I stood slowly. I stumbled a few feet to the nearest chair, only half registering that it was Severus' personal office chair. I took a few deep breaths, but with my head still spinning I looked up.

"Right, let's go again." I said attempting to stand up.

"I don't think so young lady." Severus said forcing me back down into the chair. "Eat this." He said handing me a chocolate frog. Without arguing I took off its leg in one bite. "Small bites Allison or you'll get sick." I slowed my chewing, and continued to stare at my shoes. Severus pulled up one of the arm chairs so that he sat across from me. He lifted my chin, and held my hands in his.

"Alice-Lily I didn't expect you to get it right the first time. In fact, I would have been astounded if you had. I know that I'm tough on you sometimes, but you don't have to feel so disappointed." He handed me another chocolate frog as he continued to speak. "Allison if you don't want to continue, I will understand."

"I do! I do! It's going to be a challenge, but I can do it! Let's go again!" I exclaimed jumping up from my seat.

"Are you sure you can…"

"Yes I can handle it! Let's go!" I decided on the day I was sorted into Slytherin. How proud I felt, how proud I knew I had made Severus. "Open the box!"

"Alright then. Wand at the ready." Again I raised my wand gripping the handle tight.

"Ready?" He asked me with his hand hovering over the hasp.

"Ready." I replied with a nod. I focused on my memory. The bold mix of Emerald and Silver, the excitement right before the sorting, the weight of the sorting hat on my head.

"GO!" The hasp flipped open again the Dementor glided forward. I stood my ground focusing on the sights and smells of the Great Hall that night.

"Expecto….Expect…Expecto patronum!" The same heavy fog dared to creep into my head. I shook my head trying to chase it away. "Expecto Patronum!" but just as before the happy memory faded away and the voices creeped in.

"_Lily, take care the kids and go! Its __**him**__!" _

"Dad" I whispered.

"_Lily go! Run! I'll hold him off!" There was the sound of someone stumbling from a room, a door bursting open, a cackle of high-pitched laughter…_and then I was swimming again.

"Alice! Alice!" This time I was shaking violently, and Severus' urgings came more quickly. "Allison can you hear me?" My head was pounding and I felt weak, but I had to stop the shaking. I opened my eyes.

"Sev, please stop shaking me." I whispered. He immediately stopped and forced another chocolate frog into my hand. I looked into his frantic dark eyes. "I heard my dad. I'm sorry, I heard him, and I lost it. It's the first time I've ever heard him, he…he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give mum a chance to run for it…" I felt my voice trail off, and I realized there were tears rolling down my cheek. I hadn't cried over my parents since I was a young child. I let the tears fall as I looked away from Severus' piecing cold eyes. "I'm sorry." He reached for me trying to comfort me, but I pulled away. I pulled myself together standing wand raised. "One more go. Please. Just one more try! Please Severus! I've got to learn how to do this. I can't keep letting them get to me like this. I've got a memory. A real good one, Please one last go!" I was begging like a small child, and I knew he didn't have much sympathy for begging, but I didn't care. After everything my parents had sacrificed, I needed to master this spell. The memory I chose was the happiest of my life. The day I found out I had a twin brother, someone just like me. The day I realized I wasn't alone in the world. Severus looked apprehensive as he stood by the box. The hasp swung open, and I was determined not to let the Dementor defeat me. I took in a deep breath, and with all my might shouted.

"EXPECTOR PETRONUM!" The dementor halted and a large silver shadow burst from the tip of my wand, hovering between the Dementor and I.

"Riddukulus!" Severus countered. With a loud crack the cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor. I stored the wand in the pocket of my robes. "Excellent Alice!" He embraced me in a hug, pride showing on his face. When I finally pulled away, he held my shoulders at arm's length. "Now there's still a little bit of improvement to be done, but this is a job well done."

"Same time next week Professor?" I asked.

"Yes Miss Potter. Do try not to be late." He answered handing me a large chocolate bar.

My schedule was increasingly full as the term continued on. Draco was finally repaired enough that the team could practice on a regular basis. Though he and I were still not friends, we didn't fight, and were even able to complete complicated plays that would take the Ravenclaws by surprise. Our long hours of practice did pay off, because we were able to defeat the Ravenclaws by 200 points. I wish I could say the same progress was made with the Dementor lessons.

"You're expecting too much of yourself." Severus finally said one night about four weeks into our training. "For a thirteen-year-old witch, even an indistinct Patronus is a huge achievement! Alice it's been weeks since you've last fainted!"

"I thought a Patronus would…I don't know, charge the dementors off or something…sort of make them disappear."

"The true Patronus does do just that." Severus answered. "You have achieved a great deal in a short amount of time. If you run into trouble, you'll be able to keep Dementors at bay for a while."

"What's under a Dementor's hood?" I asked sitting down cross legged on the floor.

"No one really knows." He answered looking at my position on the floor disapprovingly. "A Dementor only lowers its hood to use its last and worst weapon."

"What's that?" I asked nibbling on a bit of chocolate.

"They call it the Dementors' Kiss. And I wish you wouldn't sit on the floor like a barbarian." He replied rolling his eyes, and sitting in the office chair. "The Dementor clamps their jaws on the mouth of the victim, and sucks out his soul." I chill ran up my spine as of a Dementor were present in the room.

"They…they kill?"

"No. Much worse. You can exists without your soul, as long as your brain and hart as still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, nothing. You just exist, with no chance of recovery. You are just and empty shell. And your soul is gone forever…lost." Severus' eyes themselves seem lost, somewhere far off.

"Are you all right Severus?" He shook his head returning back to the room.

"Perhaps you should head off to bed." I left his office that night feeling more freaked out than anything.


	18. Chapter 18

_Harry_

All of us Gryffindors were thrilled at the defeat of the Ravenclaw team in our last quidditch match, because it meant we were going up against Slytherin for the house cup. We celebrated for weeks following the match, because the only player on the Slytherin team with any actual skill was my sister, and she didn't fly well under pressure. We celebrated our soon to be victory, but all that celebrating came at a cost. The boy's dormitory, had been invaded, and destroyed. Ron had been attacked, by an man with a knife and he insisted it was Sirius. Hardly anyone believed him, especially Professor McGonagall. That was until the portrait who was filling in for the fat lady, a knight by the name of Sir Cadogan, had admitted letting in a man because he had the password. We didn't blamed Neville for losing his list of passwords, but we didn't exactly forgive him either. No one slept after that night, even after the castle was searched and the Fat Lady restored to her post. I couldn't help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remained unguarded and unblocked.

"Should we tell someone about that?" Alice had asked me one night in the Library.

"Well, I suppose we know he's not coming in through Honeydukes." Ron had told us both dismissively. "We'd have heard if the shop had been broken into."

"I suppose you're right. Besides, how's Harry going to come to Hogsmeade with us next weekend if they boarded up the statue?" She had answered with a smile elbowing me in the ribs. It was nice to have the support from the two of them, especially since Hermione had become incredibly distant from us. It was mostly my fault because I continued to refuse to turn in the Marauder's Map to Professor McGonagall. I hadn't realized how bad things had gotten between the three of us until Ron and I had paid a visit to Hagrid.

Of course when we arrived at Hagrid's hut, Buckbeak was stretching out on top of a large patchwork quilt, enjoying a plate of dead ferrets. Hanging behind Buckbeak there was a gigantic, hairy brown suit and a very horrible yellow and orange tie hanging from the top of Hagrid's wardrobe door.

"What is all that for Hagrid?" I asked pointing to the get-up.

"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures," Hagrid answered me. "This Friday him an' me'll be going down ter London together. I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus…" I felt a sudden pang of guilt. Ron and I had completely forgotten that Buckbeak's trial was so near, and we had also forgotten our promise to help him prepare Buckbeak's defense.

"I've got something to discuss with you two." Hagrid said staring at us across from the table acting uncharacteristically serious.

"What is it Hagrid?"

"Hermione."

"What about her?" Ron asked.

"She's in a right' state, that's what. She's bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since Christmas. Bin feelin' lonely. First yeh weren' talking to her about the Map, now yer not talkin' to her because her cat…"

"ATE SCABBERS!" Ron interjected.

"Because her cat acted like cats do." Hagrid continued as if Ron hadn't interrupted. "She's cried a few times, yeh know. Goin' through a rough time at the moment. Bitten off more'n she can chew, If yeh ask me, all the work she's been trying ter do. Still found time ter help me with Buckbeak's case. Mine, she's found some really good stuff fer me, reckon he'll stand a good chance now."

"Hagrid we shoud've helped you as well, sorry." It was an awkward apology, but it was the best I could do in the moment.

"I'm not blamin' yeh! Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be getting' on with. I've seen yeh practisin' Quidditch ev'ry hour o' the day an' night, but I gotta tell yeh, I thought you two'd valued yer friends more'n maps, or rats. That's all." There was nothing Ron and I could do but exchange and uncomfortable look.

"Really upset she was. When Black nearly stabbed yeh Ron. She's got her heart in the right place, Hermione has, an' you two not talkn' to her…"

"If she'd just get rid of that cat, I'd speak to her again!" Ron burst. "But she's still sticking up for it! It's a maniac, and she won't hear a word against it!"

"Ah well people can be stupid abou' their pets." Said Hagrid wisely. Behind him, Buckbeak spit a few ferret bones on Hagrid's pillow. We spent the rest of our visit with Hagrid talking about the Quidditch cup, and at nine o'clock, Hagrid walked us back to the castle. There was a large group of people huddled around the notice board when we made our way to the common room.

"What do you think about Hogsmeade next weekend?" Ron asked me in a low whisper.

"Well Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes…" I whispered back.

"Harry!" called a disapproving tone in my ear. I turned around to find Hermione sitting at the table behind us. "Harry if you go to Hogsmeade again, I'll tell Professor McGonagall."

"call you hear someone talking Harry?" Ron growled at my side.

"Ron! How can you let him go with you? After what Sirius nearly did to you! I mean it! I'll tell!"

"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled?" Ron asked furiously. "Haven't you done enough damage this year?" Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but with a soft hiss, crookshanks leapt onto her lap. Hermione took one frightened look at the expression on Ron's face, gathered up her cat and hurried away towards the girl's dormitories. "So how about it?" Ron said plainly as if there had been no interruption in our previous conversation. "Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't been inside Zonko's yet!" I thought about my choice long and hard. I knew that my choice would drastically effect my friendships with Ron and Hermione.

"Ok." I said. "But I'm bringing the Invisibility Cloak."


	19. Chapter 19

_Harry_

Saturday morning, I stuffed my Invisibility Cloak in my bag. Slipped the Marauder's Map into my pocket and headed down to breakfast with Ron. Hermione kept shooting suspicious looks down the table at me, but she softened when I allowed her to walk me back up the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall as everyone else headed out the front doors.

"See you when you get back!" I cleverly called back to her as Alice and Ron gave me a knowing smile. Once the Entrance Hall cleared out, I hurried up to the third floor, pulling the Marauder's Map out of my pocket as I went. Crouching behind the one-eyed witch statue, I unfolded the map and looked it over. A small dot was moving in my direction, _Neville Longbottom._ _Just who I needed to find me._ I thought rolling my eyes. As quickly as possible I shoved my bag into the statue, but before I had time to climb into the statue myself, Neville came around the corner.

"Harry! I forgot you weren't going to Hogsmeade either!"

"Hi Neville," I replied storing the map in my pocket. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing." He shugged. "Want a game of Exploding Snap?" I had to think of a lie good enough to get Neville off my back.

"Er..I was going to the Library and do that vampire essay for Lupin."

"I'll come with you! I haven't done it either!" He said brightly. I hated being rude to Neville, but I really needed to get out to Hogsmeade.

"Hang on, yeah I forgot I finished it last night!"

"Brilliant, you can help me!" He said. "I don't understand that thing about garlic at all! Do they have to eat it or…" But his voice broke off, and he gave a small gasp at something behind me. I turned to see Snape towering over us.

"And what are you two doing here? An odd place to meet.."

"We're not meeting here!" I blurted "We just sort of…met here."

"Indeed?" Snape scowled. "You have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, and you are rarely there for no reason. I suggest the pair of you return to Gryffindor Tower where you belong." We had no choice but to set off towards the Gryffindor Common Room. As we turned the corner I snuck a glance back, to see Snape running one of his hands over the one-eyed witch's head examining it closely. I was able to lose Neville at the Fat Lady, by telling him I had left my vampire essay in the library. Once out of Neville's sight, I was able to take out the map again. The third floor corridor seemed to be deserted , and Snape seemed to be back in his office. I sprinted back to the one-eyed witch statue opened the back and slid down to Honeydukes cellar. Completely concealed by the Invisibility Cloak, I was able to make my way upstairs and find Alice and Ron by a display of sugar quills.

"They're the only thing that keeps me awake during History of Magic!" Alice was saying to Ron as she filled her shopping basket with them. I tapped Ron on his shoulder.

"It's me." I whispered.

"What took you so long?" Ron hissed.

"We've been waiting ages! I was starting to get worried! Emily wanted to..." Alice was pouring out as she reached for more sugar quills.

"How many sweets have you had this morning Alice? You're talking a mile a minute."

"Right sorry. What took so long?" she asked handing her basket off to the cashier.

"Snape was hanging around, I didn't have a choice but to wait for him to head off." After that we went to the Post Office so that Ron could check the price of sending an owl to his brother Bill in Egypt. Then we went to Zonko's joke shop, which was so heavily packed with students we could barely move. I had Alice gather products for me, and I passed her some gold from under the Invisibility Cloak.

"Nice say isn't it?" Emily asked as we walked along the cobbled streets.

"Fancy a visit to the Shrieking Shack?" Ron asked us as we passed the Three Broomsticks.

"It's supposed to be the most haunted dwelling in Britain isn't it? It is awful creepy with its boarded up windows and overgrown garden." Emily asked thinking out loud.

"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it." Ron told us as he leaned on the fence that guarded the shack. "I asked Nearly Headless Nick, he says he's heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George tried, but all the entrances are sealed shut."

"Someone's coming." I told them hearing footsteps behind us. Within minutes we were joined by Malfoy and his gang of losers.

"Should have an owl from father anytime now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm…about how I couldn't use it for three months. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. Emily's bubbling smile faded, and Alice's hands clenched into fists. _Well at least she finally realized what a creep Malfoy is._ "I really wish I could hear to great hairy moron trying to defend himself. 'There's no 'am in 'im, 'onest!' That Hippogriff's as good as dead."

The three of them shared another stupid laugh, then as if they had just noticed us for the first time Malfoy addressed us, Well Emily, Alice and Ron. "What are you lot doing here?" Not taking his eyes off of the house he continued, "Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleeps in one room! Is that true?" Emily and Alice latched on to Ron's arms to keep him from doing anything stupid.

"Leave him to me." I whispered into his Ron's ear. The opportunity was too perfect to miss. I crept around behind Malfoy and his goons, and scooped up a large handful of mud from the ground.

"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid. Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Do you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's. .." With that I hauled the mud at the back of Malfoy's head.

"What the?" Now Ron, Emily and Alice were bent over in hysterics. While Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle spun stupidly on the spot, staring wildly around.

"What's wrong Malfoy? Ruin your hair?" Alice called out bursting into another fit of laughter. I smiled, it was rare that she had a laugh at the git's expense.

"What was that? Who did that?" Malfoy asked rubbing at his hair.

"Well it's haunted up here isn't it? I suppose it must have been a ghost." Little Emily chirped. I couldn't resist a second go out them, so I hauled another mud lump in their direction catching a bit of Crabb and Goyle on the way.

"It came from over there! " Mafloy cried pointing about six feet from my left. Crabbe charged forwards with his arms outstretched like a zombie. I dodged him, grabbing a large stick, and swung it at his back. Being the idiot that he was, Crabbe thought it was Ron who hit him so he headed off in his direction; I stuck my foot out tripping him. But the oaf's big foot got caught on the hem of the invisibility cloak and the cloak slid off my face. Everyone saw me. Malfoy and his goons ran off, probably back to the castle, while Alice and the others flashed me worried looks.

"Harry! You need to get back to the castle now! If Draco tells anyone you'll be in so much trouble!"

"Don't worry Alice, I'm a Potter! Trouble's part of the job! See you all at dinner then."


	20. Chapter 20

_Harry_

I had no idea of knowing if Malfoy would believe what he had seen. Very few people knew about mine and Alice's invisibility cloaks, but Alice had been friends with Draco for some time, she may have told him. My mind was racing as I made my way to Honeydukes and back to the castle. I knew Malfoy would get there first, but I didn't know how long it would take him to find a professor. I had time to jump out of the statue, before I heard approaching footsteps. It was Snape, his long black robes swishing at his side, while he towered over me.

"Come with me Potter." Was all he said before skulking off. I followed him down a set of stairs, into the dungeons and into his office. "Sit." He commanded. I did as I was told. "Mr. Malfoy has just seen me with a strange story Potter." I knew better than to say anything. "He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack, when he ran into your sister, Miss. Smith, and . Mr. Malfoy states that he was talking to Weasley when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?" I tried my best to look surprised.

"I don't know Professor."

"Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it may have been Potter?"

"No sir."

"It was your head Potter. Floating in mid-air." A long silent moment passed between the two of us.

"Maybe he'd better go to Madame Pomfrey," I suggested. "If he's seeing things like…" But Snape would have none of that.

"What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter?" He asked. "Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade, no part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade."

"I know that." I answered, trying to keep my voice and face free of guilt. "It sounds like Malfoy is having hallucin..."

"Malfoy is not having hallucinations!" Snape snarled. "If your head was in Hogsmead, so was the rest of you."

"I've been in the Gryfindor tower." I lied. "Like you told me this morning."

"Can anyone confirm that?" I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Snape's lips curled into a horrible smile. "So everyone from the Minister down has been trying to keep the famous Harry Potter safe from the murderous Sirius Black, but famous Harry Potter is above all that. Let _ordinary _people worry about safety. Potter goes wherever he wants!" He spat. The best I could do was to stay silent. Snape had no proof that I had actually left the castle. "How extraordinarily like your father you are Potter." His eyes were suddenly glistening, as if he knew about the weak spot I had for the subject of my father. He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the quidditch pitch made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting about the place with his friends and admirers, the resemblance between you two is uncanny." My blood began to boil.

"My dad didn't strut. " I asserted. "And neither do I." He ignored me.

"Your father didn't set much store my rules either. Rules were for the lesser mortals, not Quiddich cup winners. His head was so swollen…" but I lost it.

"SHUT UP!" Before I knew it I was on my feet, rage coursing through me.

"What did you say to me Potter?"

"I told you to shut up about my dad!" I shouted. "I know the truth alright? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my dad!" Snape's disgustingly pale skin turned the color of sour milk.

"And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?" He asked in a low whisper. "Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears? I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter. Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you. Your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts." His snarled like a vicious dog. "Turn out your pockets Potter." I didn't move. "Turn out your pockets or we will go straight to the Headmaster!" I had no choice, I slowly reached into my pockets and pulled out a Zonko's bag and the map. Thankfully I had wiped it clean before leaving Honeydukes.

"Alice and Ron gave me all that stuff. He brought it back from Hogsmeade last time!" It was a pathetic excuse, but I knew that they'd cover for me.

"Indeed? And you've been been carrying them around ever since? How very touching. And what's this?" He asked picking up the map.

"Spare bit of parchment." I said shrugging.

"Surely you don't need such a very _old_ piece of parchment? Why don't I just throw it away?" He asked holding the map over the fireplace in his office.

"NO!" It was a reflex . I couldn't let him burn the map.

"So is this another treasured gift from ? Or is it something else? A letter perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the Dementors? Let me see…let me see." He smoothed out the map on his desk, and produced his wand from his pocket. "Reveal your secret!" Thankfully nothing happened. "Show yourself!" Snape tried again unsuccessfully. I started to relax, but continued taking short measured breaths. "Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" he commanded tapping the map with his wand. As though an invisible hand was writing on it, words appeared on the surface of the map.

"_Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business." _ Snape froze. I wanted to laugh, but in fear of Snape cursing me to death, I decided agents it. More writing appeared beneath the first.

"_Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."_

"_Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor." _

"_Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball." I'm going to die._

"So…" Snape said softly, his face drained of all color. "We'll see about this." He turned to the fireplace behind him and seized a fistful of glittering floo powder from a jar on the mantle. "Lupin, I want a word." He called into the flames. I stared at the fireplace, not daring to look at Snape.

"You called Severus?" Professor Lupin asked walking into the office without knocking.

"I certainly did." His face was twisted with fury as he turned back to the map unfolded on his desk. "I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this." An odd expression appeared on Professor Lupin's face. "Well?" Snape made it very clear that he expected an answer. "Well? This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?"

"Full of Dark Magic?" Professor Lupin repeated back. "Do you really think so Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who tries to read it. Childish but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop?"

"Indeed!" Snape's jaw went rigged. "You think a joke shop could supply him with such a thing? You don't think that he got it _directly from the manufacturers?" _ I had no idea what Snape was talking about, thankfully neither did Professor Lupin.

"You mean from Mr. Wormtail or one of these people? Harry do you know any of these men?"

"No!" I answered quickly shaking my head.

"You see Severus?" Lupin said addressing Snape again. "It looks like a Zonko product to me…" Right on cue Alice and Ron came bursting into the office.

"We gave Harry that stuff!" Ron blurted out.

"Yeah, we, we got it at Zonkos ages ago!"

"Well, that seems to clear that up!" Lupin said with a smile clapping his hands together. "I'll take this Severus." He folded up the map and placed it inside his robe pocket. "Harry, Ron please come with me, I'd like to talk to you about your vampire essays." We followed Professor Lupin out of the office and to the Entrance Hall.

"Professor I…"

"I don't want to hear explanations." Lupin added shortly as he glanced around the empty Entrance Hall. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map." Ron and I could do nothing but stare at him in amazement. I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am however astonished that you didn't hand it in, Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. I can't let you have it back Harry. It's too dangerous." I had expected that. Even though Professor Lupin and I had become closer this year, he was one of the Professors who most worried about keeping me safe from Sirius.

"Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" I asked.

"Because…" Lupin began heaving a sigh. "Because these map makers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it was extremely entertaining. Don't expect me to cover for you again. Harry I need you to start taking this situation with Sirius, well seriously. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive Harry. A poor way to repay them, gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magical tricks." He said striding away leaving me feeling worse than I had in Snape's office.


	21. Chapter 21

_Alice_

"Should have an owl from father anytime now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm…about how I couldn't use it for three months." I watched Emily's bubbling smile faded, and Ron's eyes narrow as Draco, Crabbe and Goyle approach us. "I really wish I could hear the great hairy moron trying to defend himself. 'There's no 'am in 'im, 'onest!' That Hippogriff's as good as dead."

Malfoy as his friends shared a laugh, and pretended to notice us for the first time. "What are you lot doing here?" staring behind us at the house he continued, "Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleeps in one room! Is that true?" Emily and I latched on to Ron's arms to keep him from doing anything stupid.

"Leave him to me." Harry whispered from under his invisibility cloak.

"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid. Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the disposal of Dangerous Creatures. Do you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's. .." SMACK! mud came flying at the back of Malfoy's head.

"What the?" Ron, Emily and I were bent over laughing as hard as we could. While Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle spun on the spot, staring wildly around.

"What's wrong Malfoy? Ruin your hair?" I called out bursting into another fit of laughter. It almost felt nice being the one taunting him for once.

"What was that? Who did that?" Draco asked rubbing at his hair.

"Well it's haunted up here isn't it? I suppose it must have been a ghost." Little Emily chirped in her innocent voice, but Harry couldn't resist a second go at them, so he hauled another mud lump in their direction catching a bit of Crabb and Goyle on the way.

"It came from over there! " Mafloy cried pointing into what seemed to be open air. Crabbe charged forward to where Malfoy pointed, then it looked like Harry took a swing at him with a stick, or rather the open air did. Crabbe thought it was Ron who hit him so he headed off in his direction; he must have tripped on Harry's invisibility cloak because in the next second the cloak slid off his face. Everyone saw him, well his head. Draco screamed and ran off with Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind.

"Harry! You need to get back to the castle now! If Draco tells anyone you'll be in so much trouble!" I shouted.

"Don't worry Alice, I'm a Potter! Trouble's part of the job! See you all at dinner then."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I mumbled as he recovered his head, and presumably headed off to the castle.

"Should we go back too?" Emily asked nervously. "I mean Harry did buy a lot of stuff at Zonko's today, what if he gets caught with it? Someone should be there to say they just brought it back for him."

"You're right." I said as we headed away from the Shrieking Shack. We made our way to the coaches, and rode back to the Castle. Standing in the Entrance Hall we saw Neville.

"Hey Neville!" I said as he passed by.

"Oh Hello Alice, Ron, Emily."

"Neville have you seen Harry anywhere? We wanted to give him some stuff we brought back." I asked, feeling guilty even though I wasn't really lying to Neville, I was planning on unloading some of my sugar quills on him.

"Yeah, uh I just saw Professor Snape take him down to his office. So you might want to wait."

"Oh, thanks Neville." I called as he walked off. "He's dead for sure."

"Come on. I'm sure malfoy told Snape about seeing Harry, but we were at the Shrieking Shack. It could have been a ghost like Emily said right? Suppose Malfoy was just so scared of being up there that he imagined it. Harry's smart enough to think of that." Ron said.

"What about the stuff from Zonko's?" Emily reminded us.

"We just say we got him that stuff ages ago." Ron answered.

"I don't know Ron. Professor Snape might not believe…"

"Might not believe what? That Harry's sister and best mate bring him back stuff when we got to Hogsmeade? He'd be stupid to think we wouldn't!"

"I suppose it's worth a shot." I sighed. "But we're going to have to hurry."

"I'll take your stuff Alice, you can probably run faster without it." Emily said holding her already bag filled arms out to Ron and I. "And I can give you your stuff back at dinner Ron." We handed our bags off to her and set off at a run. Ron was a much faster than I was, but he didn't know the right turns to get through the dungeons, so we kept a pretty even pace. By the time we reached Severus' office, we were both out of breath and I was bracing myself on Ron's shoulder as we gasped for air. Severus was standing at his desk glaring at the Maurader's Map, While Remus and Harry seemed to be sharing some sort of secret knowing glance, they all turned to us when we entered the Office.

"We gave Harry that stuff!" Ron blurted out.

"Yeah…We…we got it at Zonko's ages ago!" I lied. I had always been bad a lying, and all four of them knew that I was lying, but for some reason, Remus covered for us.

"Well, that seems to clear that up!" he said with a smile clapping his hands together. "I'll take this Severus." He folded up the map and placed it inside his robe pocket. "Harry, Ron please come with me, I'd like to talk to you about your vampire essays." As Remus passed me he leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I'll be back to discuss this with you." And the three of them left, leaving me in the office alone with Severus. _I'm in trouble._ I thought.

"Severus, I…"

"Sit down, and don't say anything."


	22. Chapter 22

"Sit down, and don't say anything."

I felt like I was a small child again. When I was younger and Severus was too angry to discipline me with a level head, he would make me sit at the kitchen table, without talking until Remus got there. The last time he did that was when I was about eight, and I had found a shoe box of letters addressed to my mother under his bed. After which Remus was able to sooth Severus' temper and I had a minor punishment for poking around where I didn't belong. I didn't think I'd be that lucky this time. The silence dragged on between us, and I didn't dare take my eyes off the floor. Any movement in his direction would set him off. After what felt like hours Remus rejoined us in the office. Severus stopped his stormy pacing and sat quietly at the desk. Remus silently stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. As if trying to prolong the silence he strode across the room slowly. He then turned a second armchair so that he was facing both of us.

"Where do I begin with you?" He asked placing his face in his hands. "How could you let Harry do something so, so, irresponsible?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." It was another bad lie, but Harry was off the hook so I should be too.

"Well, well two lies in one day! How very Slytherin of you Allison." Severus inserted in a condescending tone.

"I, I'm not lying! I really don't know what you're…"

"Stop it Allison." Remus commanded cutting me off. "This isn't like you. The wreck-less decisions, the lying. I'm very disappointed in you." I was hurt. It was the first time in my life that Remus had ever told me he was disappointed in me. I let the words absorb into the air. Then as we Potters typically do, I got Angry. _Really _angry. I jumped up out of my seat.

"I don't understand what the problem is! We were just having a bit of fun!"

"Sirius…"

"Sirius what? Fudge or whoever seems to think that he fed Voldemort information, so now it _must _be true! You know, the last time Fudge thought someone was a killer, it was Hagrid. Harry and I proved Hagrid innocent. What makes everyone so sure that Sirius is a rat? I just, you're his best friend Remus! You should be standing by him!" I was blurting things out as they came to me, not sure I was even making sense. But I knew I only have this one chance to get it all out because once I stopped talking they'd lay into me.

"Are you finished?" Remus asked.

"I don't know." I said sitting down again.

"Look Allison," He said in a tone that suggested he was trying harder than usual to keep a level head. "Maybe you're just too young to understand this, but…"

"But what? It's only ok to break the rules when it's convenient for you two? Ever since I've come to Hogwarts it's been all about how much rule breaking _I've _done. Have you two ever thought about the things _you've _done? How about the fact that we lie to the government everyday by saying that I live with Remus? Or the fact that one of us is a closet Death Eater for the greater good? Why is it that we only follow the rules when they're convenient for the pair of you? Do rules apply all of the time, or is it ok to skirt around them as long as you have good intentions? Because this is all getting a bit too hazy for me. "

"Alice I know this is hard to understand, but you need to trust that Severus and I doing are what's best for you. I know you think that Sirius is innocent, and so did I for a while. But think for just a moment, if Sirius was completely innocent, why would he escape Azkaban? Why not just wait for a fair trial? The truth would out!" Remus continued monitoring his tone once again.

"Remus, you've seen those Dementors! If I was trapped there I'd want to escape guilty or not. Besides it is awfully fishy that he's been left alone for years, and now all of a sudden after twelve years they're trying to convict him!"

"Allison times were complicated then. After Voldemort's downfall so many dark wizards tried to escape their fate. Some like the Malfoys claimed to be under the imperius curse, others gave out names of other Death Eaters and the Dark Lords informants. It has taken several years for the ministry to check up on this information. It could be that someone years ago turned in Black, and the ministry only has substantial evidence to convict him now." Severus explained, finally calm enough to speak.

"So you really think he did it? You really think he could turn in his best friend to Voldemort?" I asked them.

"It was a dark time Alice. Anything's possible." Remus answered.

"Now as far as your punishment goes." Severus said eyeing me.

"I suppose you want my broom back, and I won't be able to play in the championship match." I said in a disappointed tone.

"Oh no. I have something far worse in store for you." Severus answered with a wicked grin. "I remember telling you this summer, that if you set a toe out of line at any time this school year, that you'd spend the next summer brewing potions. I think that's a start. We can discuss the rest when we get home at the end of term."

"That is Severus' conditions. I however have my own."

"Of course you do, because now that you two aren't speaking, your parenting and punishments come separately." I mumbled.

"I heard that." Remus replied to me. "Allison you know you are always welcome at my house, or in my office, but I think your frequent habit of pitting Severus and I against each other, desperately needs to be broken. As such, I will no longer play a role in disciplining you, not until you can show Severus and I equal respect."

"So…What does that mean? You're not my guardian anymore? You're just passing me off?"

"No Alice I'm still going to be your guardian, I'll still care for you, just from now on when you run into trouble it will all be Severus' responsibility." His eyes seemed to be far off, somewhere else. "Now if you'll both excuse me I have some essays to grade. " He paused at the door as if an afterthought, "I'm sorry Alice but this is the way it's got to be if we're going to break you of this reckless behavior."


	23. Chapter 23

"So the fact that you two don't get along anymore is my fault?" I asked Severus somewhere between devastated and angry.

"Alice-Lily that's not the case and you know it."

"Can I go now?" I wanted to be as far away from the two of them as possible. Serverus began massaging his temples in frustration.

"Yes Alice you may go, and please try not to get into any more trouble."

"Yes Professor, I wouldn't want to make your job any harder." I told him as I stood to leave the office. Emily, Ron, and Harry were waiting for me in the Entrance Hall.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked.

"Professor Snape tried to interrogate me into ratting you out. But Lupin made him knock it off." _Why is it always so easy to lie to my friends? Maybe Remus is right, maybe I am different. _We stood around talking for a few minutes before Hermione approached us.

"Come to have a good gloat?" Ron asked her.

"No." Her lower lip was trembling. "I just thought you all should know. Hargrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed. He sent me this." She said holding out a letter. Harry took it and read it out loud.

"_Dear Hermione, We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Beaky has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the help you gave us. Hagrid." _He looked up at us from the letter. "They can't do this Buckbeak isn't dangerous!"

"Malfoy's dad's frightened the Committee into it. " Hermione said whipping her eyes. "You know what he's like. They're a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were scared. There'll be an appeal, though, there always is. Only I can't see any hope, nothing will have changed."

"Yeah it will." Ron said. "You won't have to do all the work alone this time Hermione. I'll help."

"Oh Ron!" She exclaimed flinging her arms around his neck and breaking into tears. Ron looked terrified, and patted her awkwardly on the top of her head. Even more awkwardly Harry, Emily and I stood around watching the scene unfold.

"Ron, I'm really, really sorry about Scabbers." Hermione sobbed into his robes.

"Oh, well, he was old." Ron told her trying to be comforting. "And a bit useless. You never know, mum and dad might get me an owl now."

"You two done fighting then?" Harry asked.

"Yes. I suppose we are." Hermione said drying the last of her tears.

"Well then we should go to Hagrid's right?" Hagrid was in an awful state when we found him.

"There's still the appeal!" Ron tried to comfort him. "Don't give up yet! We're working on it."

"s' no good Ron. That committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm just' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had." There was no arguing with him, and worse there was no consoling him. We did everything we could, but we had to give up and head back to the castle. The next few days past by without much of anything happening, towards the middle of the week, Hermione slept through charms. Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor know-It-All, actually slept through a class! Apparently that put her in such a bad mood that she actually stormed out of Divinations. She seemed to improve over the next few months now that her work load had lightened, though I think a lot of that was due to the fact that she and Ron were talking again. The quidditch finals came and went. Slytherin Lost to Gryffindor, due to some coordination issues with one of our beaters. They year was drawing to a close as classes began having their final exams. Harry had told us to meet him be the lake after lunch because he needed to tell us something. So despite the chilly weather, Ron, Hermione, Emily and I found ourselves sitting by the black lake waiting for him. We were growing increasingly colder as the wind from the lake picked up.

"Wwwhat's taking so long?" Emily's teeth chattered.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have told us to meet here if he'd known it was going to be so cold." Hermione told us.

"I think the wind is exactly why he told us to meet here. Obviously he doesn't want to be overheard." I said thinking out loud. "FINALY!" I called out as he approached us.

"Sorry I got caught behind a group of first years. How long have you lot been waiting?"

"Ages!" Ron and Emily blurted out.

"Never mind that, what's going on?" I asked. Thinking the sooner we got on with it, the sooner we could get back inside the castle.

"So the divinations exam was crystal gazing, which for the record has got to be the second useless thing in the subject." Harry began. "So I was going about my exam, Trelawney asked me what I saw, I told her a Hippogriff. So naturally she thought I was seeing the result of Hagrid's appeal. She asked me if I saw any blood or gruesome scenes, I didn't so I told her no."

"You've got us out here, in the bloody cold to tell us this!"

"Shhh Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"So 'course she got all offended, and started telling me about how disappointed she was. Then it got weird. Her voice got all raspy, and she bellowed out '_it will happen tonight'_ at first I thought I'd misheard her."

"It will happen tonight." I whispered. "What could that mean?"

"I don't know, but it gets weirder. '_The Dark Lord lies, alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before.' _ And then she snapped out of it like nothing had ever happened." I rummaged through my pockets looking for a quill and some parchment.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Writing it down. That might help."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think Trelawney may have made an actual prediction." Hermione said.

"No! Come off it!" Ron said astonished.

"'_The Dark Lord Lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers.' _Well we knew that much right? _'His servant has been chained these twelve years.' _ You don't think they mean…Sirius?" She asked looking up.

"No, it can't be Sirius hasn't been chained up for twelve years. He's been with Harry." I reminded them. "''_The Dark Lord lies will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before.' _No I suspect this is just more Trelawney rubbish. Nothing to worry about. Now let's go before we're late for our Care of Magic Creature's exam."

"Can I grab a sweater fffirst? Emily asked rubbing her shoulders.

"Come on, let's go." I said handing her my Slytherin sweater. "You're lucky I keep an extra with me." I took out one of Severus' old Slytherin sweatshirts from my bag, and pulled it over my head. After our exam, Hagrid slipped a folded piece of parchment into my pocket. _"_Guys! I called after them as we made our way to the castle. I've got a note from Hagrid. '_We've lost the appeal. they're going to execute at sunset. Nothing you can do. Hagrid.'_" I read aloud.

"We've got to go!" Harry said at once. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner!"

"Sunset though? We'll never be allowed, especially you." Ron said nodding in Harry's direction.

"We've got the invisibility cloak." Hermione stated.

"Invisibility _cloaks._" I corrected. "Between mine and Harry's the five of us'll fit."

"So what are we waiting for?" Ron asked.

"Right, Alice, you go get your cloak, I'll go get mine. let's meet at the Entrance Hall."

"See you there Harry." I replied racing off towards the castle.

"I'm so excited! My very first Potter adventure!" Emily exclaimed as she ran alongside me.


	24. Chapter 24

After getting the cloaks, we went down to dinner with the rest of the school. When dinner was done, we headed off to our dormitories. When it looked like everyone had dispersed, we circled back to the Entrance Hall.

"Hermione, Emily, you'll be with me. It will be easier to hide the three of us under one cloak than it would be with the boys."

"Alright, let's get going before someone notices we're gone." We reached Hagrid's cabin and Harry knocked.

"It's us." He whispered into the door. "We're under the Invisibility Cloak let us in, and we can take it off."

"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. But he stood back and let us step inside. For once Hagrid wasn't crying. He wasn't doing much of anything. His helplessness seemed much worse than before when he did cry.

"Where's Buckbeak?" Emily asked innocently enough.

"I took him outside. He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an' an' smell fresh air, before…"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" I asked. "Dumbledore…"

"He's tried. He's got no power ter overrule the Committee. He told 'em Buckbeak's all right, but they're scared. Yeh know what Lucius Malfoy's like, threatened 'em I expect. An' the executioner, Macnair, he's an old pal o' the Malfoy's, but it'll be quick an' clean." Hagrid swallowed hard. "Dumbledore's gonna come down while it, while it happens. Said he wants ter be with me. Great man Dumbledore. Yeh got to go up to the castle. I told yeh, I don't want you watching. If Fudge and Dumbledore catch you out without permission, yeh'll all be in big trouble." Hermione had been busying herself by making tea, and as she reached for Hagrid's large bowl of sugar, she let out a shriek.

"Ron! I don't believe it's Scabbers!"

"What are you talking about?" He asked gapping at her. She picked up the rat and carried him over to the table.

"Scabbers!" nearly every one of us cried out in surprise. We were all so busy celebrating we almost missed the approaching footsteps.

"They're comin. Yeh gotta go, They mustn' find yeh here. Go on now!" I pulled Emily and Hermione into me and tossed the cloak over our heads. "Go quick, and don't listen." Hagrid said forcing the five of us out the door; we went out without another word. After a few paces I stopped to girls and whispered out into the night.

"Harry? Ron?"

"A bit to your left." Ron whispered back.

"Let's get to the forest so we can take off these cloaks." I told them. Once under the cover of the forest's shadows, we removed the invisibility cloaks. Ron was struggling to keep a hold on Scabbers as we listened to the rumble of voices behind us.

"I can't hold him. Scabbers shut up, everyone'll hear us!" Ron spoke in a stern voice. The rat was squealing wildly, but not loudly enough to cover up in the sounds drifting from Hagrid's garden. There was a jumble of voices, silence, and then without warning the unmistakable thud of an axe.

"They did it. I don't believe they did it." Hermione whispered clinging onto Harry's shoulders. Ron was busy trying to keep a hold on his rat, while Emily and I stood and absorbed the silence. We stayed frozen like that for several seconds before Harry spoke.

"Hagrid!" he muttered moving his way forward.

"We can't." I said grabbing his arm. "He'll be in worse trouble if we do. If they knew we've been to see him." Hermione seemed to be having some sort of breakdown.

"How could they! How _could_ they?" She choked.

"Come on, we need to get back to the castle." I said wrapping my arms around Hermione. "It's only going to get worse if we stay here." She nodded grasping on to my left arm. Emily looped her arm through my right and tossed the cloak over is. The three of us left the cover of the forest, but before Harry and Ron had a chance to do the same, Scabbers slipped from Ron's hands.

"What's the matter with him?" Ron asked.

"Crookshanks." Emily whispered. As Hermione's cat advanced on the rat. Before any of us had the chance to stop him, Crookshanks sprang after Scabbers. Ron chased after the cat shouting wildly at it.

"Get off him you stinking cat!"

"Ron get back under the cloak!" Harry called. We chased after him, but it was impossible to do under the cover of the cloaks. Emily and Hermione abandoned the shelter of the cloak, leaving Harry and I no choice but to remove the cloaks as well. I wrapped my cloak around my arm and followed all of them. Ron was able to capture Scabbers and stuff him back in his pocket. But before we were able to cover ourselves again, there was the soft pounding of gigantic paws. Racing towards us was a pale eyed jet black dog.

"I hate the things that come out of this forest!" Emily exclaimed as she began to run. Instinctively I reached for my wand, but I was a few seconds too late. The dog made an enormous leap pinning me to the ground with its paws. The dog breathed its hot smelly breath in my face, baring its inch long teeth at me. Within seconds the dog was off me. I rubbed at my ribs and surveyed the scene. Emily stood a few feet away watching the scene unfold. Harry stood beside her horror stuck as Ron was being chased down by the dog. Hermione helped me to my feet as the dog leaped for Ron. The dog's jaw latched around Ron's arm and dragged him off as if he were a rag doll. Harry chased after it, but out of nowhere he was hit in the face with something that knocked him off his feet. Within seconds Hermione, Emily, and I followed. On impact with the ground I knew for sure that my ribs were broken. Someone produced a wand and whispered _Lumos _lighting up a small area. The rest of us followed suit lighting up enough area; I took in the sight of the whopping willow. At the base of the roots the large black dog was dragging Ron into a large gap of the roots. Ron was fighting desperately but he was slowly slipping out of sight.

"RON!" Harry shouted instinctively charging forward, but a branch came whipping around, forcing him to jump backward.

"We've got to go for help!" Hermione exclaimed.

"No that thing's big enough to eat him! We haven't got time!" I told her.

"But we're never going to get through!" Hermione cried dodging another branch.

"If the dog can get in then we can!" Harry shouted.

"Look over there!" Emily pointed. Crookshanks darted forwards. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk. Immediately the tree stopped moving. Not one branch, or even a leaf.

"Crookshanks?" Hermione asked uncertainly. "How did he know?"

"Who cares, let's go." I said grabbing Emily and Harry's wrist racing forward. "We don't know how long it will stay like this."


	25. Chapter 25

Crookshanks slipped down the hole that the dog had dragged Ron into.

"Guess I know where we're going." I said climbing down the hole. I relit my wand at the mouth of the tunnel and waited for Harry, Hermione, and Emily to join me.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked looking around.

"This way," Harry said leading us forward.

"Where does this tunnel comes out?" I asked him.

"I don't know. It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever got into it. It goes off the edge of the map towards Hogsmeade." We were racing through the tunnel, with Crookshanks leading the way.

"Who knows what that dog's going to do with Ron." Emily whispered.

"We can't think about it. We've just got to keep moving." I told her, but my mind was racing, there were over a hundred horrible things I could picture happening to him. After a while the tunnel began to rise, and twist. Eventually light began to shine through a small opening in the tunnel.

"I'll go first." Harry said putting out his wand and raising himself out of the tunnel.

"What's up there?" Emily asked.

"It's a room. Come on up!" Harry called down to us. Hermione and I helped little Emily up into the room.

"You go next, and then you guys can pull me up." I told Hermione. She nodded as I put my hands out to boost her up. Once we were all out of the tunnel and our wands were relit for the second time, I took a good look around. The room was very disorganized. Paper was peeling from the walls, there were stains all over the floor, every piece of furniture was broken and the windows were boarded up. The others stared around the room in awe.

"Guys." I called trying to get their attention "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."

"Ghosts don't do that!" Emily cried pointing to a wooden chair on the far side of the room. Large chunks had been torn out of it, one of the legs had been ripped off entirely.

"What did we get ourselves into?" Hermione asked in a frightened voice. There was a loud creak overhead. "Something's moving upstairs."

"Should we go upstairs?" I asked waiting.

"Well there's no reason to stay here." Harry said making his way to the door. As quietly as we could, we crept out into the hall. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide, shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs.

"_Nox_. Alright wands out here. We want to have our wands ready in case we need them." I told them. At the top of the stairs, we realized there was only one door open. We slowly crept toward it and Harry kicked the base of the door so it swung wide open. Taking in a deep breath, and gripping my wand tighter, I followed Harry into the room. We found Crookshanks purring on a dusty old four-poster bed.

"RON!" Hermione exclaimed running past Harry and I. sure enough Ron was laying on the bed clutching his leg.

"Ron are you alright?" Harry asked from the doorway.

"Oh Ron that looks painful!" Emily chirped over my shoulder.

"Where's the dog?" I asked.

"Not a dog." Ron moaned. He was grinding his teeth in pain. "It's...he's an Animagus. And you've known this whole time!" Ron said looking at Harry. I wheeled on Harry.

"What's he talking about? Who's an Animagus? What's going on?" The door behind us shut with a thud. Sirius stepped out of the shadows.

"_Expelliarmus!" _ Harry and the rest of the "rescue Ron party" watched helplessly as our wands were pulled out of our hands and flew across the room. My heart began to race because for the first time I finally understood what was going on with all of the adults. I finally understood how even a man's best friend could turn his back to you. I finally understood what it was to be truly afraid. My whole life I had lived under the assumption that nothing could ever hurt me because Severus played for the other side. I was raised to think a wizard's wand was a tool that it was not to be misused. But standing there, with Sirius pointing Ron's wand at us, I now knew that a wand was a weapon and any man who was capable of escaping Azkaban, was unpredictable.

"I knew you would come to help Ron. Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you all, not to go get a teacher. I'm grateful it will make everything easier." Emily and I backed away from Sirius to stand by Hermione and Ron. Emily was clinging to my arm like a child her eyes wide with fright.

"Everything's going to be alright." I whispered to her. Harry seemed to have some sort of rage boiling within him. He advanced forward. "HARRY NO!" I lunged for his arm and pulled him back.

"Look if you're after Harry and Alice, you're going to have to through us!" Ron said getting off the bed. The act of moving off the bed alone had drained his face of all color.

"Lie down." Sirius said. "You will damage that leg even more."

. "Sirius please, just let us go. We won't tell anyone that you're here. Please!"

"Relax Alice. Everything will happen in due time."

"Alice, don't listen to him! He's the reason mom and dad are dead!"

"I don't deny that I played a role in your parent's death, but please you've got to listen to the whole story!" My breath caught and I felt my body sway. Severus and Remus had been right and I had fought with them, and I had put all of us in danger by saying we didn't have time to get help.

"The Whole story?" Harry repeated. "You sold them to Voldemort that's all I need to know!" He broke free of my grasp and charged forward. Harry was able to knock Sirius off his feet and get our wands. Standing over Sirius Harry Pointed his wand at Sirius' chest.

"Are you going to kill me Harry?" Sirius asked. I was too mesmerized by the scene to move.

"Harry you can't!" Hermione called out. Snapping back into reality, I ripped Harry off of Sirius.

"Harry think about it, when has anything ever been simple for us? There's got to be a better explanation!" Harry stopped fighting with me, but never took his eyes or wand off of Sirius.

"Here." In his left hand Harry held out a bouquet of wands. I took the collection of wands from him and gave them back to their respective owners. Everyone turned their wands in Harry and Sirius's direction. We stayed frozen like that for what felt like hours. From downstairs we heard the sound of soft footsteps. Before the rest of us had a chance to respond Emily began shouting.

"WE'RE UP HERE! WE'RE UP HERE WITH SIRIUS BLACK!" Sirius looked around as if he was going to spring on us, but when the approaching footsteps reached the staircase and he froze. The door to the room burst open in a shower of red sparks. Remus came hurtling into the room his face was colorless and his wand was raised and ready. I raced towards him so happy to see him.

"REMUS!" He wrapped one arm around me protectively as he stood between Harry and Sirius.

"Everyone stop! Miss Smith, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, please put your wands away." They did. I was glad that Harry and I were not forced to do the same.

"What's going on Remus?" I asked from under his arm. He didn't answer me. Instead he turned back to Sirius.

"What are you doing here? You know the charges, the cost of coming here! I still don't understand, why hasn't he shown himself yet? Unless, Unless _he_ was the one, unless you switched without telling me?"

"Professor Lupin what's going on?" Emily asked.

"I Don't believe it!" Hermione shouted. "You've known the whole time!" she shrieked pointing at me.

"Hermione what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Professor Lupin's a werewolf! And I bet he's been helping Sirius into the castle as well." She cried out.

"Professor Black's an Animagus, and Professor Lupin's a werewolf?" Ron asked. "Come on how many other secrets have you two got?" _My guardian's a death eater. _Thought to myself.

"Don't blame them Ron. They didn't know. Well at least Alice didn't know about Sirius being an Animagus, and Harry didn't know about my being a werewolf. They were sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone, including each other. Hermione I'm afraid you're not up to your usual standard. You're only half correct. I have not been helping Sirius into the castle, but I do not deny that I am a werewolf. How long have you known?"

"Ages, since Professor Snape's essay." She whispered.

"He'll be delighted." Remus said giving me a wink. "He set that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant. Did you check the lunar chart and realize I was always away on a full moon? Or did you realize that Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?" He asked.

"Both." She responded.

"You _are _the cleverest with of your age Hermione." Normally that would have hurt my feelings, but due to the circumstances I could hardly get upset.

"I'm not. If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already know. At least the staff does." I told her. "Dumbledore told them all when he hired Remus first year."

"You have to believe me. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle. Here" He handed his wand to Emily and stepped away from me. "You're armed we're not."

"But if you haven't been helping him, then how did you know we were here?" Ron asked.

"The map. The Maurauder's Map. I was in my office examining it." Remus answered.

"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously.

"Of course I know how to work it. I helped write it. I'm Moony that was my friends nickname for me at school."

"You wrote?" Harry and I were astonished to hear that it was Remus and his friends who actually wrote the Maurader's Map.

"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you two, Ron, Hermione would try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right wasn't I? Though I must admit Emily it is a surprise to see Alice has finally got you tangled up in one of her schemes."

"Hey Harry was the one who said too…" But Remus shot me a "not now" look. "Right sorry."

"I figured you'd be under the cover of the invisibility cloaks, but even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak you show up on the Maurader's Map. I watched you all enter Hagrid's hut, and then leave twenty minutes later. But you were now accompanied by someone else."

"No one was with us." I said. Remus continued on as if he hadn't heard me.

"I Couldn't believe my eyes. I thought the map was malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us." Harry repeated me. But Remus ignored him as well.

"And then I saw another dot moving fast towards you, labeled Sirius Black, I saw him collide with Alice first, then pull the two of you over to the whomping Willow."

"One of us!" Ron interjected.

"No Ron. Two of you. Can I have a look at the rat?" Remus said leering at Scabbers. At first I'd thought he'd gone mad, but then I remembered the very beginning of this summer.

_The entire Weasley family was smiling back at me from the newspaper clipping I held in my hand. "Remus look! Ron's dad won some kind of contest at the Ministry and they used the money to go to Egypt!" I said after I finished scanning the article. I handed him the photograph and watched his smile fade._

_"Allison how long has Ron had his rat?" I peeked over his shoulder noticing Scabbers in the photo._

_"Well I think Ron told us that his rat's been in his family for almost twelve years. He got it his first year at Hogwarts, from his brother Percy." I explained confused._

_"I need to owl Sirius. May I borrow Apollo?" He asked speaking about my friendly barn owl._

_"Sure." I answered as he turned away. "Remus! I'm going home it's almost dinner, Sev will be expecting me."_

_"See you tomorrow." He called absentmindedly over his shoulder. That was not Remus' usual demeanor. Whatever it was about Ron's rat that was troubling him must be a big deal._


	26. Chapter 26

"Give it to him Ron."

"Why? What's my Rat got to do with anything?" He asked.

_After leaving Remus' house I headed home. Not before talking out my enchanted parchment, magically communicating with Severus._

_**Sev, Do you know why Remus would be interested in Ron's Rat?**_

_Is his rat by any chance missing a toe?__ I thought back to the last time I had seen Scabbers._

_**Yeah, I think so.**_

_Could you do me a favor and invite your Uncle over for dinner? It seems I have made too much food for just the two of us, and I'd hate to waste it. __Something was definitely going on with this rat._

"That's not a Rat." Sirius said laughing.

"What do you mean, of course he's a rat!"

"No he's not. He's wizard." Remus said quietly.

"An Animagus like me." Sirius said nodding. "By the name of Peter Pettigrew." Another memory from this summer flashed across my eyes. After seeing the Weasley family in the paper, I had tried to ask Severus about Remus' strange reaction to Ron's rat.

_"Honestly it was nothing. That rat could just possibly be an old acquaintance from our Hogwarts days. Really nothing. Now let's enjoy the rest of our vacation it will be time for Hogwarts before you know it."_

I had completely forgotten about those conversations with everything that had been going on this year. Though it was obvious Remus and Severus hadn't. Which was probably the source of all the tension between the two of them.

"Peter Pettigrew?" I said looking up. "He's been dead for years. He was on the list of Voldemort's victims wasn't he? All they found of him was his finger. No one saw though…"

"Please, Alice, Let me Explain." Sirius asked his eyes begging. I looked around the room from Harry, Ron, Hermione and Emily.

"It's worth a shot right?" I asked taking a seat on the bed. The others joined me.

"Aright, let's hear it." Harry nodded in agreement.

"But, Professor Lupin, if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus, people would know. All Animagi have to be registered."

"Shh, let them explain!" Emily told her sitting on the bed next to me.

"All right, but Sirius you'll have to help me. I can only speculate most of it…" Remus broke off, there was a loud creak behind him and the bedroom door opened on its own. He stepped over to the door frame and looked out at the stairs. "No one there." He said.

"This place _is_ haunted." Ron said.

"No it's not." Remus said studying the door. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted. The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me. That's where this all starts. With me becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten. I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform, I am able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again." A cold shiver ran up my spine. All the years I had known him, Remus never once talked about what it was like to be a werewolf. I had asked him once a few years ago, and I had gotten the typical "I'll tell you when you're older" response. I pulled my knees up to my chest as he continued.

"Before the Wolfsbane potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledge monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me. But them Dumbledore became headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said, that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school. Alice I told you years ago that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts, the truth is, it was planted _because _I came to Hogwarts." He stared at me as if expecting me to say something. When I don't, he continues on.

"My transformations in those days were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf." Another icy chill ran up my spine. "I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violet spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor. But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends." I relaxed a little as the story took a turn upwards. "Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and of course James Potter. Now my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories, much like I do for the students at Hogwarts. I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course they like you, Hermione, worked out the truth. And they didn't desert me at all. Instead they did something for me that would make my transformations not only barable but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"Dad too?" Harry asked. I rolled my eyes. He could be so dense sometimes. _Get with it Harry. _

"Yes indeed." Remus answered. _Sure answer all of Harry's dumb questions. _"It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were because the Animagus transformation can go horribl wrong. One reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"But how did that help you?" Emily asked puzzled.

"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals. A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James' Invisibility Cloak. Peter the smallest could slip beneath the Willow's attaching branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them. "

"But what does any of this have to do with Scabbers?" Ron asked.

"I'm getting there." Remus told him. "Highly exciting possibilities were open to us now we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James were such large animals they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about Hogwarts grounds than we did. And that's how we came up with the idea to write the Mauruder's Map, we signed it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Wormtail, and James was Prongs." _James was Prongs._ I repeated in my mind. No matter how many years have passed, it was still hard to accept that they were dead. I can only imagine how it felt for Remus who actually knew them.

"What sort of animal…." Harry started to ask but Hermione cut him off.

"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark was a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip and bitten somebody?" She asked her face pale with worry.

"A thought that still haunts me, especially now with Alice and Harry here at school. And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless carried away with our own cleverness. I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust of course, he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure." For the first time that night Remus' face hardened and his voice showed a tone of self-disgust. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd led others along with me, and Albus' trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy and he gave me a job, and so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it. So in a way Snape's been right about me all along." I tense up again as another touchy subject comes up. I'd never forgive Remus if he spilled Severus' secrets.

"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard with Dumbledore against me returning to my position this year. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons…" Remus glanced at Harry and me with knowing eyes. Growing up with he and Sirius we had both come to know what sort of pranks they liked to bull. "Severus was very interested in where I went every month. We were in the same year, and we didn't like each other very much." That much I had come to figure out from childhood. Severus and Remus disagreed often, and Severus would sometimes talk about how much he hated Dad's group of friends.

"He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James' talent on the Qudditch Pitch. Anyways, Severus had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me towards the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be amusing to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course Snape tried it, if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf. But you're father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him backat great risk to his own life. Snape glimpsed at me though at the end of the tunnel. He was of course forbidden from telling anyone by Dumbledore, but from that time on, he knew what I was."


	27. Chapter 27

"Snape glimpsed at me though at the end of the tunnel. He was of course forbidden from telling anyone by Dumbledore, but from that time on, he knew what I was."

"That's why there's always been tension between you and Severus, All this time he thought you were in on the joke?" I asked hoping instantly that the others didn't notice my use of his first name.

"Not exactly." Sneered a cold voice from behind Remus. We looked up to discover Severus pulling of one of the invisibility cloaks his wand pointed at Remus and Sirius. "I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow. Very useful Potters thank you." I looked to Harry it was careless of him to leave something as valuable as the invisibility cloak lying around. He turned to me with the same disapproving look, holding his cloak under his arm. Causing me to realize that was _my_ invisibility cloak clutched in Serverus' hand. I would be getting a lecture about the carelessness of my actions from him after all of this was done. "You're all wondering perhaps how I knew you'd be here. I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did, lucky for me I mean." He added casting a disapproving look in my direction. "Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along the passageway and out of sight." Then again, maybe Remus would be the one getting the lecture about leaving things laying around. "I've told the Headmaster again and again that you've been helping your friend Black into the castle, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as a hideout."

"Severus you're making a mistake. You haven't heard everything. I don't think Sirius is after Alice and Harry." But Severus was wild with controlled rage, only Remus and I would recognize the flare of fire in his eyes.

"Two more for Azkaban tonight. I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this, all these years he's had me convinced that you were harmless." Thin snake-like coils burst from the end of Severus' wand, binding Remus and making him immobile. Emily made a move to run to his aid, but I flung my arm out.

"You'll only make it worse." I whispered to her. Severus then turned his wand on Sirius.

"Give me a reason." He murmured. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." The two locked eyes, wands pointed in opposite directions and it was impossible to tell which face showed more hatred between them. The others were paralyzed with fear, so I took a deep breath and tried to be the voice of reason with Severus. In truth I was probably the only person in that room he wouldn't turn his wand on.

"Professor Snape, it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've go to say, would it?" He world on me not taking his wand off Sirius as the long black cloaks swirled around him.

"Miss Potter, you and your friends are already facing suspension from school. You are all out of bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life hold your tongue." But part of that Potter blood started to boil, and I became my own brand of raged.

"But if there's been a mistake…"

"KEEP QUITE YOU STUPID GIRL!" He shouted. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" That seemed to bring Harry's mind back into the scene. He jumped between Sirius and Severus, and began screaming.

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" He yelled back. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WONT EVEN LISTEN!"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT! Like father like son Potter! I have just saved your neck and the lives of all your little friends, you should be thanking me on one knee! It would have served you well to be killed by him. You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken about Black. Now, GET OUT OF THE WAY POTTER!"

"Expelliarmus!" As if we had planned it, Harry, Ron, Emily, Hermione, and myself all cast the disarming spell on Severus at the same time. There was a catastrophic blast that caused the door to rattle on its hinges. Severus was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. I raced over to him.

"He's unconscious." I told them sitting at his side examining the wound.

"You shouldn't have done that. You should have left him too me." Sirius said using Severus' wand to unbind Remus.

"We attacked a teacher! We attacked a teacher!" Hermione whimpered staring at Severus. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble!"

"Hermione, in case you failed to notice, we're always in trouble." Ron said from the bed.

"Now, where were we?" Remus asked brushing himself off and looking around. I glared at him crossing my arms. "Allison, are you alright?" He asked offering me a hand. I ignored it, quite content with sitting on the floor.

"Just fine." I told him plainly looking away. "Let's get this over with. The longer we stay here, the more trouble we'll be in. So for years no one has thought to ask how Voldemort has found out about our parents. Then all of a sudden someone comes forward saying it was Sirius who outed them, Dad's best friend, who's been raising Harry for twelve years. I understand your position that war makes everything crazy, and you can't trust anyone. But why after all this time has no one ever brought up evidence against Peter Pettigrew?"

"We didn't have any proof. Not until the beginning of this summer when you got that newspaper article of the Weasley family. For years people thought that Peter was dead. Murdered in a group of muggle born wizards, all they found of him was his finger."

"Ron isn't Scabbers missing a toe?" Hermione asked.

"Look, Scabbers probably got in a fight with another rat or something. He's been in my family for ages."

Twelve years in fact!" Sirius said. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"Because we take good care of him!"

"Harry, Alice don't you see?" I lifted my head to look at Sirius. "Everyone's thought it was me that betrayed your parents. _Peter_ betrayed your mother and father."

"But if it was Peter, that doesn't explain why when we first got here; you said you don't deny that you played a role in mum and dad's death." For the first time Sirius looked truly remorseful.

"I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment. I persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me. I'm to blame, I know it. The night they died, I'd arranged to check in with Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out from your parents' house right away. And when I saw their house destroyed, and their bodies…I realized what Peter must have done. What Ihad done."

"Well there's one way to prove all of this. Ron give them your rat." Harry said.

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked.

"Force him to show himself. If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him." Remus explained. Ron hesitated, giving a longing look at Scabbers, but finally handed him over to Remus. A flash of blue-white light erupted from Remus' wand, and Severus' wand being brandished by Sirius. Scabbers was frozen in mid-air, his small black form twisting madly, the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light, and then a man was standing where Scabbers had been. Cringing and wringing his hands. Instinctively I buried my head in Severus' robes but then I realized how that must have looked and stopped. Thankfully everyone else was too busy focusing on the man who now stood before us.

He was a very short man, hardly taller than Emily. His thin colorless hair was un-kept and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. His skin was grubby and he maintained a rat like look with his pointed nose and his small watery eyes. He looked around the room wildly, glancing fearfully back and forth at the door.

"Why hello Peter!" Remus said pleasantly. "Long time no see."

"S-sirius, R-Remus!" Pettigrew exclaimed in a squeaky voice. "My dear old friends."

"We've been having a little chat Peter." Sirius began. "About what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed."

"You don't believe any of this, this madness Remus!" Peter squeaked again.

"I must admit Peter, I have difficulty understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat." Remus accused.

"Innocent but scared! It was the only way I could ensure protection from Voldemort supporters like him!" Pettigrew squealed pointing at Sirius. Sirius let out a thunderous laugh.

"I spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak myself around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you Peter! I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us Me, Remus, and James…"

"Me a Spy?" Pettigrew asked cutting across. "Must be out of your mind! Don't know how you could say such a…"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it!" Sirius hissed. "I thought it was the perfect plan! A bluff, Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you! It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters." Pettigrew started to mutter under his breath. I was able to catch small bits, _farfetched _and _lunacy, _But I was more focused on his eyes that continued to dark towards the door occasionally.

"Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked timidly. "Can I ask something?"

"Certainly Hermione." Remus answered with an encouraging nod.

"Well if scabbers, I mean this man, he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You Know Who, How come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" Pettigrew exclaimed pointing at Hermione. "Thank you! You see Remus? I have never hurt a hair on Harry's head? Nor Alice's for that matter! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why!" Sirius erupted. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you! Voldemort's been in hiding for twelve years, they said he's half-dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard whp'd lost all his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him. Pettigre opened and closed his mouth Several times as if he was going to speak, but he seemed to have lost the ability to talk.

"Ah, Professor Black, Sirius?" Emily asked shyly. "If you don't mind me asking, How did you get out of Azkaban? If you didn't use dark magic?"


	28. Chapter 28

"I don't know how I did it." Sirius repied. "I think the only reason I didn't begin to lose my mind was because I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me, but it kept me sane and knowing who I am. It helped me keep my powers, so when it all became…too much…I could transform in my cell…become a dog. Dementors can't see you know. They feel their way towards people by sensing their emotions." My spine began to tingle as it had when Remus was telling us about his life as a werewolf. "They could tell my feelings were less human, less complex when I was a dog, but they thought, of course that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand. But then I remembered Remus finding Peter in that picture. I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry and Alice, perfectly positioned if one hint reached his ears of Voldemort returning." Peter didn't deny it. Instead he shook his head violently muttering to himself. Sirius continued on. "Ready to strike the moment he could be sure of allies, to deliver the last of the Potters to him. He could turn in Harry and Alice, and no one would dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort. He'd be welcome back with open arms. It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it. It wasn't a happy feeling,it was an obsession, but it gave me strength."

"so one night when they opened my door to bring me food, I slipped past them as a dog, I swam as a dog back to the mainland. Harry, Alice," He said looking at us each in turn. "I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them." I don't know if it was the genuine tone in his voice, or the honest pleading in his eyes that finally convinced me, but I stood and walked over to Harry.

"Harry, we have such few Allies, it would be a shame to lose two of our biggest supporters. The people who raised us, because of a mess up like this. Twelve years of protection doesn't just disappear!"

"It all makes sense. I'll stand with them if you do." He said giving me a reassuring nod. Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as if Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.

"Sirius, it's me! It's Peter! Your friend you wouldn't!" But Sirius' only response was a swift kick to Pettigrew's ribs.

"There's quite enough filth on my robes without you touching them."

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to him. "You don't believe this! Wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?" Remus looked to Sirius, thinking.

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter. I assume that's why you didn't tell me all those years ago?"

"Forgive me Remus." Sirius said.

"No worries Padfoot. As long as you will, in turn forgive me for believing _you_ were the spy?" Sirius took pause at this. He had obviously been burned more by the accusation of spy than Remus had, and it was clear in his eyes that he was not quick to forgive, But I smile cracked across his face. The first smile, I'm sure, he had made in months. As he rolled up his sleeves he spoke.

"Shall we kill him together?" He asked looking back at Remus.

"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward Putting himself between our guardians and Voldemort's spy.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents." Sirius snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die, too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family." But it wasn't lack of believe that was stopping Harry. It was what people thought of Sirius and Remus that truly mattered to him. I joined Harry at the other end of their wands.

"Look, I know what he did. But, we'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. He can go to Azkaban, just don't kill him." I pleaded.

"I don't reckon dad would've wanted his best friends to become killers." Harry said looking from me to Sirius and Remus. A beat passed, no one moved or made a sound. Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance, and then in one fluid movement, they lowered their wands.

"you're the only two people who have the right to decide." Sirius said staring at us. "But think, think of what he did!"

"He can go to Azkaban." Harry said repeating me. "If anyone deserves that place, he does."

"Very well." Remus said. "Alice, Harry stand aside." We exchanged a look, but neither of us made a move away.

"I'm going to tie him up." That's all, I swear." We stepped out of the way, moving towards Hermione, Emily and Ron. Thin cords shot from Remus' wand, and in the next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor bound and gagged.

"But if you transform, Peter," Sirius growled pointing Severus' wand at him. "We will kill you. Is that alright with you Alice? Harry?"

"Yes." I answered speaking for both of us.

"Right." Remus said suddenly business-like. "Ron I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madame Pomfrey, So I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing." He tapped Ron's leg with his wand, causing bandages to spin out of the wand and up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. He helped Ron too his feet.

"That's better thanks." Ron told him.

"What about Professor Snape?" I asked looking expectantly at Remus.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him." He told me bending down to check Severus' pulse. "You were all just a bit, over enthusiastic. He's still out cold. Perhaps it's best if we don't revive him until we're safely back in the castle. We can take him like this. _Mobilicorpus._" As if he were a marionette, Severus was willed into a standing position. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Remus picked up my invisibility cloak and tucked it in his pocket. _I'm not getting that back for a while._ I thought.

"And two of us should be chained to this." Sirius said nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."

"I'll do it." Remus volunteered.

"And me." Ron said limping forward.

"Let's get out of here!" Emily exclaimed.


	29. Chapter 29

Soon Remus was chained to Pettigrew's left arm and Ron to his right. As they made an awkward sideways exit out if the room. Hermione followed them gripping Crookshanks in her arms.

"I'll take Snape." I told Sirius reaching out for Severus' wand. After retrieving it from him, Emily and I followed the others out of the room, with Harry and Sirius trailing behind. The two of them soon fell back, they were catching up on all the things Sirius had missed that year. When we reached the mouth of the tunnel Crookshanks flung from Hermione's arms and bounded out to freeze the Whomping Willow. I gingerly got Severus up through the tunnel before exiting myself. The Hogwarts grounds were very dark now, the only light came from sporadically lit windows in the castle.

"One wrong move, Peter!" Remus threatened pointing his wand sideways at Pettigrew. We silently tramped through the grounds, as the clouds began to shift. There were dim shadows being cast by our small group as the moon began to shine. Severus's floating body collided with Peter and his guards, as Remus froze in the moonlight.

"His potion, Professor Snape said he didn't drink his potion tonight. He isn't safe!" I told the others.

"Run, Run now!" Sirius whispered.

"But what about Ron?" Harry asked.

"Leave it to me! RUN!" Sirius shouted. There was a terrible snarling noise as Remus' head began to lengthen. Hair was sprouting on his face and hands which curled into clawed paws. I was frozen with fear, it was the first time in my life that I had seen Remus transform. Throughout my life Severus and Remus had done a good job of keeping me well away from Remus during the full moon, and now I was standing face to face with a full-fledged werewolf. The werewolf reared its head at us and Sirius erupted from Harry's side, transforming once again into the big black dog. The enormous bear-like dog bounded forward as the werewolf ripped itself free of the manacle binding it to Pettigrew. Somehow it was easier to think of Sirius as their animal counterparties rather than their human names. That thought was the only thing to keep me sane as I witnessed the dog latch on the werewolf's neck and pull it away from Ron and Pettigrew. Someone else stood beside me just as horror struck, I was certain it was Harry, as we watched the battle between the two beasts. Everything after that happened in sonic slow motion.

Hermione began to scream as Pettigrew dove for Remus' dropped wand. Ron was unsteady on his splinted leg, and he fell over. Emily rushed to his aid as a burst of light flashed across the ground.

"EXPELLIAMRMUS!" Harry yelled, thankful he was able to get Remus' wand away from Pettigrew. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted running forwards, but he was too late Pettigrew had transformed and had begun to scurry away through the grass. There was a howl and the werewolf galloped into the Forbidden Forest.

"Sirius he's gone! Pettigrew transformed!" Harry shouted turning to the black dog. Sirius was bleeding there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words, he scrambled up and soon the sound of his paws faded away across the ground. With most of the immediate danger out of the way, I placed Severus' body gently on the ground and followed the others over to Ron's side. He was paralyzed, his mouth half open. I placed the outside of my hand under his nose.

"He's still breathing." I assured them as Ron continued to exhale cold breath.

"We'd better get him up to the castle, and tell someone." Hermione said huffing some hair out of her eyes. Together she and Emily forced Ron to a standing position. A terrible yelp wailed out into the darkness.

"Sirius." Harry Muttered at my side, his green eyes pleading with me. I glanced around exasperatedly looking for another option. Severus was still unconscious, and the castle still a fair walk away.

"There's nothing we can do for Ron here. Emily, Hermione take Ron back to the castle and get help!" They nodded in turn, and adjusted Ron so that he was properly supported on their shoulders before heading off to the castle. "Let's go!" I told Harry pulling him in the direction of the whimpering. We were running as fast as we could, Harry a few paces ahead of me reached the scene at the lake first.

"NO!" he shouted into the howling wind.

"What is…" But I stopped short at the sight of Sirius, human now, crouching on all fours, his hands over his head. At least a hundred Dementors were gliding in a black mass around the lake towards us. As they approached the familiar icy cold began to penetrate my thoughts. _"Happy thoughts Alice." _ I whispered to myself trying to shake the cold from my head. "HARRY!" I shouted over the building winds "PATRONUS CHARM!"

_Coming to Hogwarts!_ "Expecto Patronum!" No good.

_Being sorted into Slytherin and making Severus Proud_. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" No progress, the Dementors were closing in and Harry and I were running out of happy thoughts. I was vaguely aware of Harry trying to cast the spell on the side of me, but the haze the Dementors brought on, was threatening to take over my consciousness. _"Happier thoughts Allison!" _ I thought scolding myself.

_Making friends at school. _"Expecto Patronum!" Nothing.

_Friends who like me for me, not just because I was famous._ "Expecto Patronum!" No change. I fell to my knees landing hard on the cold grass. I wasn't aware enough of my surroundings to know if Harry was still fighting but I had to keep trying.

_If we save Sirius, Harry can have his godfather again. We can go back to being a family. Severus and Remus won't be torn apart anymore. Everything will be better. You just have to get this spell right!_ Wrong thought, a pair of strong clammy hands suddenly wrapped themselves around my neck, forcing my face upwards. My mother's screams were once again echoing in the back of my skull, and I was drowning in the fog. I let it take me. Closing my eyes and listening to the painful lullaby of my parent's frantic scrambling, I took in a deep cold breath, and allowed to hazing fog to swallow my final thoughts.


	30. Chapter 30

"Shocking business, shocking miracle none of them died! Never heard the like! By thunder it was lucky you were there Snape!" _Miracle none of them died._ _So I'm not dead? _I didn't dare, move or open my eyes, that was the voice of Fudge the Minister of Magic.

"Thank you, Minster." Severus' deep voice responded.

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class if I can wrangle it!"

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister."

"Nasty cut you've got there, Black's work, I suppose?"

"As a matter of fact, it was the Potters, Weasley, Smith, and Granger."

"No!" Fudge whispered skeptically.

"Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, judging by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Back to escape, they obviously thought they were going to catch Black single handed. They've got away with a great deal before now, I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves, and of course the Potters have always been allowed in extraordinary amount of license by the Headmaster."

"Ah, well Snape, Allison and Harry, you know we've all got a bit of a blind spot where there're concerned."

"And yet, is it good for them to be given so much special treatment? Personally I try to treat them like any other student." I forced myself to take several deep but silent breaths, to keep myself from scoffing. Anyone who was in potions class with us knew that Severus did anything _but_ treat Harry and I like any other student. "And any other student would be suspended, at the very least, for leading their friends into such danger. Consider, Minister; against all school rules after all precautions put in place for their protection…out of bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer, and I have reason to believe Harry has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too!"

"Well, well we shall see Snape we shall see. The boy has undoubtedly been foolish. What amazes me most is the behavior of the Dementors. You've really no idea what made them retreat?"

"No Minister, By the time I had come round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances."

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, Harry, Allison?"

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers and brought them all straight back to the castle." There was a pause, and then silence, I took it as an opportunity to "awaken." I was lying in the dark hospital wing. Emily lay to my right and Hermione to my left, both seemingly still asleep. I could only assume the Dementors had gotten to them before they were able to make it to the castle. I propped myself up, Harry and Ron were laying in opposite beds talking as Madam Pomfrey tended to Ron's leg. I turned back to see Hermione with a finger over her lips, as she nodded towards the door. Severus and Fudge weren't actually in the Hospital Wing, their voices were just carrying in through an open door at the end of the ward. Madam Pomfrey came hustling over with a large bar of chocolate in her hand.

"Ah, you're awake!" She said briskly. _Awake, and out of here._ I thought picking up my wand from the bedside table. "Miss Potter what do you think you're doing?"

"I need to see Professor Dumbledore! Anyone else care to join me?" I called back over my shoulder as I jumped off the bed.

"Miss Potter, it's alright. They've got Black, he's locked away. The dementors will be performing the Kiss any moment now." Madam Pomfrey said in an attempt be soothing.

"NO!" Harry shouted as a paused in my tracks. The sound of the commotion alerted Severus and Fudge, and within seconds they had raced inside to survey the scene.

"Miss Potter, Mr. Potter, you should be in bed. Have they had any chocolate?" Fudge asked looking over heads to Madame Pofrey.

"Minister listen!" Harry said stepping forward so that he was standing beside me. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight. You can't let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius!" But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face.

"Harry, Harry you're very confused. You've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now we've got everything under control!"

"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry shouted. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"

"Harry shouting isn't going to help." I whispered. "Minister, listen please. We did see Peter Pettigrew. All of us. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus..." Severus' eyes grew wide and he cut me off.

"You see minister?" He said. "Confunded, both of them. Black's done a very good job on them."

"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry roared.

"Minister, Professor, I must insist that you leave. These students are my patients and they should not be distressed." Madam Pomfrey told them assertively, placing her hands on mine and Harry's shoulders.

"I'm not distressed; we're trying to tell them what happened!" But Madam Pofrey, turned us by our shoulders and tried to force us back into bed.

"Now _please_ minister, these children need care. Please leave." The door opened again, it was Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore!" I called jumping out of bed again.

"For heaven's sake! Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster I must insist…"

"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with the Potters and their friends." Dumbledore said calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black."

"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in the Potter's minds?" Severus spat. "Something about a rat, and Peter Pettigrew being alive."

"That indeed is Black's story." Professor Dumbledore answered, he studied Severus' face through his half-moon spectacles.

"And does my evidence count for nothing?" Severus snarled. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him in the grounds."

"That's because you were knocked out Professor!" Hermione told him quietly.

"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TOUNGUE!" Severus erupted.

"Now Snape," Fudge said startled. "The young lady is disturbed in her mind. We must make allowances."

"I would like to speak to Harry, Alice and Hermione alone." Dumbledore said abruptly. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy, please leave us."

"Headmaster!" Madame Pomfrey sputtered "They need treatment, they need rest!"

"This, cannot wait. I must insist." Dumbledore told them sternly. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office and the end of the ward.

"The dementors should have arrived by now." Fudge said consulting a large gold pocket watch. "I'll go meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs. He crossed to the entrance door holding it open for Severus, but Severus didn't move.

"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" He whispered to Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore just smiled and repeated his previous statement.

"I would like to speak to Harry, Alice, and Hermione alone." Severus took a step towards Dumbledore.

"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen." He spat. "Have you forgotten that he once tried to kill me? Have you forgotten that, Albus?"

"My memory is as good as it every was Severus." Professor Dumbledore told him calmly. With that Severus turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. Once it closed behind them and we were certain they were gone everyone began to speak at once.

"Professor, Sirius is telling the truth! We _saw_ Pettigrew!"

"He escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf…"

"He's a rat!"

"Pettigrew attached Ron, it wasn't Sirius…" Dumbledore stopped us with a stern look.

"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time." He said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word, and the word of five thirteen year old wizards with not convince anybody. I myself have gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' secret keeper."

"But Remus can…" I began interjecting.

"Alice, as you know _Professor Lupin_ is currently deep in the forest unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves as so mistrusted by most of our kind, that his support will count for very little. And the fact that Sirius and he are old friends..."

"But…"

"Listen to me Harry, it is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."

"He hates Sirius!" Hermione began desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him!"

"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady, Entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife? Without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius' sentence."

"But you believe us?" I asked.

"Yes I do." Dumbledore said quietly. "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or the Overrule the Minister of Magic." Harry's face drained of all hope. "What we need," Dumbledore said slowing, his bright eyes turning to Hermione. "Is more _time."_

"But…" Hermione started and as if reading his mind her eyes became large and round "OH!"

"Now pay attention," Professor Dumbledore told us. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, _you must not be seen._ Miss Granger you know the law. You know what's at stake; you – must – not – be – seen."


	31. Chapter 31

Harry and I exchanged a confused look as Dumbledore headed for the door. When he reached to door he turned back to look at us.

"I am going to lock you in. It is," He paused looking at his watch. "Five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good Luck." Then he vanished from the ward.

"Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed." "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?" But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, thin gold chain. At the end of the chain she produced a gold circular object centered around an hour glass.

"Is that a…" I began to ask too awestruck to finish.

"Is it a what?" Emily asked coming over. "Whoa that's a time turner!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry a what?" Harry asked.

"A time turner." I told him. "It allows wizards to travel through time. Brilliant! That's what Dumbledore meant by three turns, three turns of the time turner!"

"Yes. But I'm afraid there's only room for the three of us. Three people traveling back is challenging enough."

"I'll stay here and watch over Ron then." Emily said with a smile gesturing over her shoulder to a sleeping Ron. "Good luck you three!" Harry looked between the three of us lost, as Emily embraced us in a hug and bounced off to Ron's bedside.

"Come here Harry! _Quick._" Hermione said pulling at the neck of his robes. She tossed the chain over mine and Harry's neck. "Ready?" She asked.

"Yes." I said nodding, excited for the chance to travel through time.

"What are we doing?" Harry asked still completely lost. Hermione ignored him turning the hourglass over three times. Before I could answer him, the dark Hospital Wing dissolved. It almost felt like flying, very fast, and backwards. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past us, and then there was solid ground beneath our feet. Hermione pulled the chain off our necks, and stuffed the time turner back into her robes. I glanced around. We were standing in the deserted Entrance Hall. Hermione was glancing around as if looking for an escape route.

"In here!" She said tugging Harry and I by the arms. Hermione dragged us across the hall to a broom cupboard, and stuffed us inside before joining us and closing the door behind her.

"So that's how you've been getting to all those classes, you go to one, and then, turn back time just far enough to make it to the second class! That's brilliant!"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall gave it to me at the beginning of the year. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one."

"wait so you expect me to believe that we've gone back in time?" Harry asked.

"Yes!" Hermione and I whispered in unison.

"Except, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"

"Well what were we doing three hours ago?" I asked. It seemed impossible that all of this had happened just in one night, there was Remus transforming, Pettigrew escaping, finding Sirius, and then there was Buckbeak. _Buckbeak._ "Hagrids! Three hours ago, we were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago."

"But how does that help Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Of course!" Hermione said hitting her palm to her forehead. "Dumbledore told us where the window is, the window of Flitwick's office, where they've go Sirius locked up! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak! They can escape together! The excitement seemed to fall from her face. "If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!"

"Well it doesn't sound like anyone else is in the hall, let's go." I said turning the nob on the cupboard.

"Ok, but we'll go by the greenhouses." Hermione said. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door or we'll see ourselves." We set off at a sprint, tearing across the outer edges of the greenhouse.

"Through the shelter of the forest?" Harry asked, skirting around the Whomping Willow. Safe in shadow of the trees, we made our way to Hagrid's hut. We were able to conceal ourselves in a low valley, while still watching the events of Hagrid's hut.

"Look that's us, under the invisibility cloak!" Harry said pointing to the door of the hut. I could hear Hagrid's voice whispering into the night.

"Yeh shouldn't have come!" Within a few second the sound of Hagrid heavy door shutting rang through the trees.

"Come on, we've got to get closer to Buckbeak!" I told them.

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever done." Harry mumbled mostly to himself. We crept through the trees until we found Buckbeak tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Now?" Harry whispered.

"No!" Hermione scolded. "If we steal him now, those committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside."

"That's going to give us about sixty-seconds." Harry said a tone of doubt in his voice.

"Good thing there's three of us!" I added with a smile.

"What if we just run in there and grab Pettigrew?" Harry asked.

"NO!" Hermione said again in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen…"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!" Harry tried.

"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" I asked.

"I'd think I'd gone mad, or that there was some Dark Magic going on."

"Exactly! You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time, loads of them ended up killing their past, or future selves by mistake!" I told him.

"OK!" He said defensively. "It was just a thought."

"Look!" Hermione said elbowing Harry in the ribs, and pointing towards the castle. Dumbledore, Fudge and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps. Within minutes Past Harry and Ron were following Emily, past Hermione and I out of the hut. Harry was right this was one of the strangest sensations of my life. There was a knock on Hagrid's door once again as the execution party arrived. Though our group of visitors hand fled to the forest, Hagrid had left the door open, leaving Harry, Hermione and I able to see what happened inside the hut.

"Where is the beast?" asked the cold voice of Macnair the executioner.

"Outside." Hagrid croaked. Macnair stuck his head out the window staring out at Buckbeak.

"We have to read you the official notice of exectution Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair you're supposed to listen too. That's procedure." Said Fudge. At that Macnair's face vanished from the window.

"Wait here, I'll go." Harry told us darting forward. Harry was able to get Buckbeak into the forest by tugging at the rope around his neck. The hippogriff walked reluctantly rustling its wings irritably. Once Harry and Buckbeak made it to the edge of the forest, Hermione and I were able help pull on the ropes. With our added wait Buckbeak was forced to move faster deep into the forest. There was silence, and then came the voice of Fudge once again.

"Where is it?" he asked. "Where is the best?"

"It was tied here!" the executioner said furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"

"How extraordinary!" Dumbledore said with a tone of amusement in his voice. There was a swishing noise and then the thud of an axe. The executioner swung at Hagrid's fence in anger.

"Someone's untied him!" The executioner snarled. "We should search the grounds! The forest!"

"Search the skies by all means." Came Dumbledore's voice still sounding amused. Eventually the footsteps, voices and sounds of the four men faded.

"Now what?" I asked looking around.

"We'll have to hide in here. We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius' window. He won't be there for another couple of hours." Hermione answered.

"We're going to have to move." Harry said. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."

"Alright, but we're going to have to keep out of sight." Hermione said agreeing. We moved incredibly slowly around the edge of the forest hiding behind a clump of trees.

"There's Ron!" Harry said pointing out of the forest. We watched painstakingly as dog Sirius dragged Ron around the grounds.

"Looks even worse from here doesn't it?" I mumbled. "Ouch! Look I just got whacked by one of the Whomping Willow branches."

"There's Crookshakes pressing the Knot." Hermione obvserved.

"And there we go…" added Harry. "We're in." Once our party made its way down into the trees tunnel they branches began to flail wildly once more. Next came the even and quiet footsteps of Dumbledore, Fudge, and Macnair. "And there's Professor Lupin." We watched as Remus seized a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk.

"And there's Professor Snape." Severus used the same branch Remus had to freeze the tree, and vanished from view with my invisibility cloak clutched in his hands. "Now all we've got to do is wait for everyone to came out." I said settling down on a tree stump.


	32. Chapter 32

Hermione joined me on the stump deep in thought. "There's only one thing I don't understand, Why didn't the Dementors get Sirius when they had their chance? I remember you and Alice running off towards the lake, but you haven't explained how you two managed to save him.

"There's only one thing that can make a Demetor go away. You have to use the Patronus charm, It would take a real powerful Patronus to get rid of that many Dementors. But I have no idea how that happened."

"There was a person on the other side of the lake. " Harry said quietly sitting next to Buckbeak.

"Did you see what they looked like?" Hermione asked eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"

"No. He wasn't a teacher."

"Well it had to be a powerful wizard to drive _all_ those Dementors away. If there was a full Patronus it must have been shining pretty brightly. Did it light him up at all? Did you see…"

"Yeah I saw him." Harry said gauging our reaction. "I think…" He began, opening and closing his mouth several times. "I think…I think it was our dad." He mumbled into the ground.

"Harry, dad's…well…you know…dead." I told him Putting my hand on his forehead like I'd seen muggles do on television when someone was ill. He swiped my arm away.

"I know that!" he said swiping my hand away.

"Do you think you saw a ghost?" Emily asked.

"I don't know…he looked solid. Maybe I was seeing things, but from what I could see it looked like him. I know it sounds mad." He said shaking the thought from his head. We waited for over an hour as the awkward silence began to build.

"Here we are." Hermione said causing all three of us to jump up. The moon slid out from behind its cloud. We watched helplessly as our past counterparts came to a sudden halt. We stood mesmerized watching the earlier events of the night unfold.

"Uh, Hermione, we're going to have to move." Told them. "Lupin's going to run into the forest…Right at us."

"Quick! Quick!" She said franticly. "Where are we going to go?"

"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "There's no one there now." We started pulling at Buckbeak's rope pulling him away towards Hagrid's hut. We settled back into the low laying valley where we had been during our first arrival into the past. "I think I'd better go see what's going on." Harry said as Hermione and I eyed him suspiciously. "I won't try to interfere with anything, you two can stay with Buckbeak. I'll be right back."

"All the same, I think it'd be best if I went with you." I told him getting up to follow him. I followed Harry around the outside edge of Hagrid's hut and we stood facing the lake. We could hear yelping far across the lake. "That'll be the Dementors." I whispered to him.

"Whoever sent that Partronus will appear any second." He told me. The Dementors emerged out of the darkness gliding along the edges of the lake. From where we stood I could see the collapsed Siruis, and the past Harry and I desperately fighting to cast a strong enough patronus. Within minutes both past Harry and I had fallen to our knees still casting furiously. Then I watched eerily as past me fainted into the Dementor's fog. Present Harry started mumbling by my side. "Come on! Where are you dad?" But no one came. Past Harry was losing strength fast. At my side present Harry leaped towards the lake shouting,"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" And out of the end of his wand bust a blinding animal. As it galloped away I was able to make out the shape of a Stag chasing away at the Dementors. At the sight of the full patronus past Harry faded into the darkness.

"Alice, I need your help." Harry called back over his shoulder. "It's a full grown Patronus, but I don't think one's enough for all those Dementors."

"But Harry I tried before, I couldn't do it." I said shaking my head.

"Neither could I. But I did just now. Just think about all the great things we're going to do. We're going to save ourselves, so that we can go back in time and save Buckbeak and Sirius. Please Try Alice we don't have much time." I took a deep breath and focused on what Harry had said. We were going to save lives tonight. There was no happier thought than that.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" I opened my eyes expecting to find the weak shapeless mist of failure, but instead was greeted by another brilliantly glowing patronus. With swift and delicate paws, the small cat like Patrunus chased after a by-standing Dementor aiding the Stag in clearing them away.

"A bobcat…pretty fierce patronus. Nicely done Alice."

"I couldn't have done it without you." I told him smiling. "Now come on let's get Hermione." When we did reach Hermione she looked furious.

"_What did you do?_ You were only going to keep a look out! And _you_ were supposed to be watching him!" She whispered angrily, pointed at us each in turn.

"I just saved all our lives! Look earlier, I thought it was my dad that helped us, but it was me. I knew I could do it because I had already done it! Does that make any sense?"

"Yes." I said. "That's how I knew I could help. I saw you had already done it, and I knew we must have both done it in the past otherwise, well it wouldn't have worked. And before, past you, well you only saw you because you fainted right after you conjured the stag." Hermione was having trouble following along and threw her hands up in frustration.

"Let's get going before you two get us seen by the whole castle." She sighed climbing onto Buckbeak.

"Can the three of us fit?" I asked Harry.

"Sure. Look at him, he's huge. Stop worrying and get on. I'll steer." I swung my leg over Buckbeak sitting between Hermione and him. Silently thanking Severus for teaching me how to ride a horse bareback, it made the whole experience a bit more bearable. I wrapped my arms around Harry's waist steadying myself as Hermione did the same to mine. Harry nudged Buckbeak's side with his heels and the hippogriff soared straight into the dark air. Harry guided the hippogriff through the sky as if the two had been working together their whole life. It didn't take us very long to reach the window of Flitwick's office. "He's there, alone. " Harry called over his shoulder. In that instant Sirius looked up and his law seemed to fall.

"Stand back!" Hermione called to him. She fumbled inside her robes until she produced her wand. "Alohomora!" The window sprang open.

"Get on! There isn't much time!" I called through the window. Sirius placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved himself out. Hermione and I were able to help him get settled on Buckbeak, before Harry led the hippogriff off to the top of the West Tower. Upon arrival at the tower Harry, Hermione, and I sled off of Buckbeak.

"Sirius you'd better go quickly." Harry said. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any minute, they'll find out you're gone."

"How are your friends? Is everyone alright? Ron? Emily? And Remus?" Sirius asked urgently, trying to dismount from the hippogriff.

"They're all fine, you've got to go!" I said shoving him back onto Buckbeak. Sirius stared down at us.

"We'll see each other again." Sirius began. "You truly are your father's son Harry."

"GO!" Hermione, Harry and I called in unison. He squeezed Buckbeak's side with his heels, the hippogriff too off in the air, he and the rider became smaller and smaller as we stared off into the sky. Within seconds, they were gone.


	33. Chapter 33

"We've got exactly ten minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us, before Dumbledore locks the door."

"Well what are we waiting for? let's go!" I said racing through the doorway that granted entrance into the West Tower. We sneaked through the castle making our way to the corridor in which stood the Hospital Wing. "_We must not be seen!"_ I whispered in my best impression of Hermione. She glared at me but still listened intently as Dumbledore spoke down the hall.

"I'm going to lock you in. It's five minutes to midnight, Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck." Dumbledore backed out of the room, closing the door behind him and took out his wand. We panicked and raced forward. Dumbledore looked up and a wide smile appeared. "Well?" He asked.

"We did it!" Harry answered breathlessly. "Sirius is gone, Buckbeak with him."

"Well done! I think…" Professor Dumbledore paused listening. "Yes, I think you've gone, too. Get inside I'll lock you in." We slipped back into the ward which was still empty except for Emily and Ron. Quickly we made our way over to our respective beds trying to look as casual as possible. As if being cued to do so, Madame Pomfrey came striding back out of her office.

"Did I hear the Headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients now?" She forced more chocolate into our hands, and we didn't dare argue. She brooded over us like a mother hen forcing more and more chocolate into our hands, when we heard a distant roar of fury echoing from above us.

"What was that?" Madame Pomfrey asked sounding slightly alarmed. The angry voices grew louder and louder, soon they were loud enough for us to make out the words.

"He must have disapparated Severus, we should have left somebody in the room with him."

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Severus roared. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE POTTERS!"

"Severus be reasonable, Allison and Harry have been locked up." The door of the Hospital Wing burst open. Fudge, Snape and Dumbledore strode into the ward. Professor Dumbledore looked rather calm, Fudge was rather angry, but Severus was far gone.

"OUT WITH IT POTTER!" Severus bellowed stopping at my bed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Professor Snape! Control yourself." Shrieked Madam Pomfrey.

"See here Severus, be reasonable." Fudge began. "This door's been locked. We just saw." But Severus reeled on the Minister of Magic.

"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE! I KNOW IT!"

"Calm down man!" Fudge barked. "You're talking nonsense."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE POTTERS!" Severus burst.

"That will do Severus." Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Think about what you're saying. The door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madame Pomfrey, have these student their beds?"

"Of course not!" Madam Pomfrey answered. "I've been with them ever since you left!"

"Well there you have it Severus." Dumbledore said camly. "Unless you are suggesting that Alice and Harry can be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further. Severus glanced bath and forth between Fudge and Dumbledore, in frustration he whirled around, robes swishing behind him as he stormed out.

"Fellow seems quite unbalanced." Fudge said staring after him. "I'd watch out for him if I were you Dumbledore."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced." Professor Dumbledore countered. "He's just suffered a severe deal of disappointment and distress tonight."

"He's not the only one! The _Daily Prophet_'s going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers! All it needs now is the story of that Hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughing stock! Well I better go and notify the Ministry."

"And the Dementors?" Dumbledore asked. "They'll be removed from the school I trust?"

"Oh yes the'll have to go." Fudge said running his fingers through his hair. "Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on innocent children, completely out of control, no I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight. Perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance."

"Hagrid would like that." Dumbledore said giving a slight smile. Together Fudge and Dumbledore left the ward, Madam Pomfrey hurried to lock the door behind them. Muttering angrily to herself she headed back to her office.

"What happened? How did you do it?" Emily asked bouncing over to my bedside.

"Shh!" I said putting my hand over her mouth. "We don't want Pomfrey to hear!" I pulled her over to Ron's bed which was the farthest away from the office and together Harry, Hermione and I recounted our journey into the past.


	34. Chapter 34

The five of us were released from the Hospital Wing the next day. It was a Saturday, which meant that we did not have any exams to take, so we were free to our own devises. The last person I wanted to see after last night was Severus. So Harry and I decided to pay a visit to Remus, and maybe share with him the events of Sirius' rescue. Remus' office door was open, and it looked like many of his belongings were packed away. When we entered the office, he was bent over something on his desk.

"I saw you coming." He said smiling and pointing to the Maurauder's Map.

"Remus, what is all this? Why are all your things packed up?" I asked pointing to the various packages and parcels around the room.

"I resigned this morning." He answered sitting down at his desk.

"What?"

"Why?" Harry and I blurted out immediately.

"You see, Professor Snape _accidentally_ let it slip out this morning at breakfast that I am a werewolf."

"You're not leaving because of that are you?" Harry asked. Remus nodded.

"This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents; they will not want a werewolf teaching their children. Alice, Professor Snape asked me to give you this." Remus said handing me my invisibility cloak. I had a sudden feeling of guilt as I took it from him. If I had never left it at the base of that tree, Severus would have never have been able to find us.

"If you're leaving…what about the end of term?" I asked.

"I'll meet you at Platform 9 ¾ like the other parents." Remus folded up the Maurder's Map and handed it to Harry. "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you this back. It's no use to me, but I daresay you, Alice, Emily, Ron and Hermione can put it to good use." He said forcing a smile.

"Remus, you told me that Moddy, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of the school. You said they'd have thought it was funny." Harry said.

"And so we would have done." Remus answered closing his suitcase. "I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son never found any of the secret passages out of the castle. Though I'm sure Lily would be pleased if you didn't." Professor Dumbledore entered the office.

"Your carriage is at the gates Remus."

"Thank you Headmaster." He said turning to Harry and I. "Goodbye Harry, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again. Alice, see you in a few weeks. I imagine we'll have much to discuss when you return home." _I imagine we will. _I though as he walked past me leaving the room.

As the end of term approached hundreds of stories about Sirius' escape had erupted from the students but none of them were remotely close to the truth. Draco was furious about Buckbeak, and took whatever chance he got to complain about it. When the exam results came in we were all thrilled to have passed, especially Hermione and I who had received competitively close top marks in nearly every subject. The Gryffindors had won the house champion ship, meaning our end of term feast was decorated in Scarlet and gold, but Harry and I couldn't help but feel empty despite all the cheerfulness around us. Harry was to live with our muggle relatives, as he could no longer be placed in Sirius' care. Both of us were nervous to meet our mother's sister and her husband. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Emily and I stood in line with the other Hogwarts students as we waited to board the Hogwarts express.

"Is that an owl?" Emily asked. Instinctively I looked down at the owl cadge clenched in my other hand.

"Yes Emily this is Apollo." I said smiling.

"No, not there, in the sky Alice!" sure enough there was a very small grey owl was flying towards us, well Towards Harry. It was carrying a letter which almost looked too big for it. Harry whispered reading the letter aloud to is.

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope this letter finds you before you meet your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. Buckbeak and I are inhiding. I won't tell you where, in case this falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about the owl's reliability, but he's the best I could find, and he did seem eager for the job. I believe the Dementors are still looking for me, but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some muggles to glimpse me soon, a long way from Hogwarts so that the security on the castle will be lifted. I am enclosing something else for you, which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable. If you ever need me, send word. You owl will find me. I'll write again soon._

_Sirius. _

We watched as Harry dug eagerly into the envelope discovering another piece of parchment.

_I Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade village on weekends._

"That'll be good enough for Dumbledore!" He exclaimed. "Hold on there's a PS. '_I thought Ron might like to keep this owl, as it's my fault he no longer has his rat.' _Well, what do you say Ron?" Ron's eyes widened.

"Keep him?" he asked uncertainly. He looked closely at the owl for a moment, then held him out for Crookshanks to sniff.

"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked the cat. "Definitely an owl?" Crookshanks gave an approving purr. "That's good enough for me! He's mine." We boarded the train and made the long journey back to king's cross station.

"What do you suppose they look like?" I asked Harry.

"Bit like mum I suppose." We stood at the station as our friends dispersed one by one. Remus found his way over to us and agreed to wait with Harry until Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon came over.

"There they are!" I said pointing. Uncle Vernon was a plump man with a disgusted sort of twisted expression on his face, and Aunt Petunia was a skinny woman, whose face seemed to constantly form a disapproving pinch.

"Mr and Mrs. Dursley, I'm Remus Lupin, so nice to meet you!" Remus said cheerily sticking out his hand. Both of them turned their nose ignoring him.

"They seem pleasant." I whispered to Harry.

"Come along Henry. The car is this way." Aunt Petunia called walking off.

"It's Harry. Harry Potter." Harry said following after pulling his trunk behind him.


End file.
